poses with Premier Drury and Sir
Henry Pellatt on the steps of the
Ontario Legislative Building in 1920. Drury was a co-founder of the UFO in 1913 but did not run in the
1919 election, which returned farmer candidates as the largest bloc in the provincial
legislature. Not having a leader, the UFO
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) asked Drury to lead them and take the position of Premier. The UFOs 49 MLAs joined with 11 Labour members to form a coalition government. It was the first of a wave of
United Farmers governments that took power in several provinces and that founded the
Progressive Party of Canada. Drury was elected to the Legislative Assembly in
Halton in a 1920 by-election, after John Featherstone Ford, the sitting UFO MLA, had stepped aside. Drury faced Edward Stephenson of the
Soldier Party (with both Liberals and Conservatives declining to contest the seat) and emerged victorious with 67.7% of the vote. Stephenson was critical of Drury's qualified support of conscription in 1917, but Drury acquitted himself well before the voters.
Achievements The Drury government had a significant impact on the Province: • It introduced allowances for widows and children, a
minimum wage for women, a mandatory weekly day of rest, broadened
workmen's compensation benefits improved the support mechanisms for parents and children born
out of wedlock, and standardized
adoption procedures. •
Ontario Hydro saw greater expansion in the field of
rural electrification and in 1921, Hydro acquired the
Toronto Electric Light Company, together with various railway interests, thus making it the largest electric power system in the world. • The
Province of Ontario Savings Office was created, effectively a provincially-owned bank that was designed to lend money to farmers at a lower rate. • It began the first major reforestation program in North America, and initiated construction of the modern highway system. • Drury also arranged for a grant to
Frederick Banting and
Charles Best, at that time relatively unknown researchers, as a result of their discovery of
insulin.
Temperance controversies The government was also a strict enforcer of
temperance measures, amidst mixed publicity. The newly-elected Labour MLA
George Grant Halcrow was immediately convicted of violating the
Ontario Temperance Act, which prevented him from receiving an expected appointment to the Cabinet. Another Act was passed which effectively prevented any movement of liquor within the Province, but it was later held not to prohibit exports to the
United States.
Ontario Hydro Dougall Carmichael, appointed as
Minister without Portfolio, was given the responsibility of being the government representative on the
Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, and specifically with keeping its chairman
Adam Beck in line. At one point in 1922, Carmichael announced to the Legislature that he was quitting his position as Commissioner because Hydro "was either inefficient or dishonest". He was forced to retract the allegation of dishonesty, and continued to be a Commissioner until the following year. In 1920, responding to a campaign to have Hydro's rates made uniform, a Legislature committee headed by
John G. Lethbridge proposed a levy of $2 per on all electricity generated in the province in order to subsidize up to 80% of construction costs on rural transmission lines (whenever there was an average of three customers per mile of line). Beck rejected the idea of a levy, but put forward his own plan (which generated great controversy). An Act that favoured Beck's view, through subsidizing up to 50% of construction costs in the rural power zone, was passed in 1921, and its affairs in general were the subject of the Gregory Commission appointed in 1922. By battling with Beck and his plans for expansion of the province's hydro-electric system, Drury also alienated industrialists and many workers.
Forest policy The Drury government investigated the administration of forest concessions granted under the previous Hearst administration, which had been directed by its minister
Howard Ferguson, and passed an Act to provide for corrective measures with regard to permits that had been improperly issued. A particular issue with Ferguson's previous actions was that he had sold timber limits to the Shevlin-Clarke Lumber Company (headed by fellow Conservative
James Arthur Mathieu) for less than half the price they would have normally fetched, and the company later paid a fine of $1.5 million for breaching the
Crown Timber Act. This transaction, as well as others, were criticized in a subsequent inquiry by the Latchford-Riddell Commission, which reported: Despite the amount of evidence gathered about the improper administration of forest lands (including Ferguson's self-professed arrogance in the matter) and the recommendations given as to how it should be improved, the industry and Ferguson launched a vigorous attack against the United Farmers. Ferguson described the Commission as "claptrap political conspiracy", accused Drury and Raney of "political knavery", and the UFO as "intellectual and political freaks who were projected into prominence by accident and who grew out of garbage". This scuttled any attempts at reform and helped to contribute to their later downfall.
Other difficulties Many labour leaders distrusted a government dominated by farmers, feeling that they could not understand the problems of urban workers. Drury's failure to establish fair wage provisions in government contracts and his commitment to
free trade that threatened the livelihood of industrial workers alienated urban workers further. Drury's Minimum Wage Act was the only significant piece of labour legislation passed by his ministry, although he also adjusted the Workmen's Compensation Act to be more generous to widows, and required journeymen electricians be employed in construction of hydro lines. The government was opposed by all the major newspapers in the province, with the exception of the
Toronto Star, and, despite its attempt to broaden its base, was opposed by business.
Fall from power The government under Drury tried to be a "people's government" rather than a "class government", but in so doing, alienated the base of its support, particularly farmers. In a series of erratic events, the UFO government clashed with the uncooperative UFO organization (led by
James J. Morrison throughout Drury's term) which ultimately withdrew its support. The Drury government collapsed after it introduced bills in the Legislature that would have brought in
proportional representation and a
preferential ballot and Drury called an early election. The government was defeated when it ran for re-election in the
1923 provincial election, in part, due to false claims that Drury had used $100 to purchase a new solid-gold
coal scuttle for his personal use. In fact, the device was an old brass scuttle which had been retrieved from storage and polished up. Drury never responded to the false claim, however, and it contributed to opposition claims of the government's extravagance. When asked what caused his ministry to fail before the voters, Drury would identify three causes: the Ontario Tempoerance Act, James J. Morrison's self-defeating opposition, and negative editorial coverage by the Toronto
Globe newspaper , E. C. Drury,
Harry Nixon and
Walter Rollo Legacy In the aftermath of their electoral defeat, the reputation of Drury's government was harmed by the
Ontario Bond Scandal that resulted in Provincial Treasurer
Peter Smith being jailed. The people of Ontario quickly consigned Drury's ministry to oblivion; the short-lived premiership, if remembered at all, is considered largely inconsequential. Charles M. Johnston summarised the Drury ministry thusly: "It was the perceived values and standards of a Victorian yesterday that Drury and his colleagues soght to entrench through the actions of their government." ==Later life==