Hart ministry

23rd ministry of British Columbia
Date formedDecember 9, 1941 (1941-12-09)
Date dissolvedDecember 29, 1947 (1947-12-29)
People and organisations
MonarchGeorge VI
Lieutenant Governor
PremierJohn Hart
Member parties
Status in legislatureMajority (coalition)
Opposition partyCo-Operative Commonwealth Federation
Opposition leaderHarold Winch
History
Election(s)1945
Legislature term(s)
PredecessorPattullo ministry
SuccessorJohnson ministry

The Hart ministry was the combined Cabinet (formally the Executive Council of British Columbia) that governed British Columbia from December 9, 1941, to December 29, 1947. It was led by John Hart, the 23rd premier of British Columbia, and was a coalition government that comprised members of both the Liberal Party and Conservative Party.

The Hart ministry was established shortly after the 1941 election. The incumbent Pattullo ministry, a single-party Liberal government, lost its majority in the Legislature, but Premier Duff Pattullo resisted calls to form a coalition.[1] In response, Liberal delegates voted to establish a coalition government, and elected John Hart, who supported a coalition, as their new leader.[2] The next day, Pattullo announced his resignation as premier, and Hart invited Royal Maitland, the Conservative leader, to join his government.[3] The Pattullo ministry was thus replaced by the Hart ministry on December 9, 1941.[4]

The Hart ministry governed through all of the 20th Parliament of British Columbia and, following its re-election in the 1945 election, continued into the 21st Parliament of British Columbia. On October 2, 1947, Hart announced his intention to retire.[5] It was succeeded by the Johnson ministry on December 29, 1947.[6]

List of ministers

Hart ministry by portfolio
Portfolio Minister Tenure Party
Start End
Premier of British Columbia John Hart December 9, 1941 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Agriculture Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald December 10, 1941 November 19, 1945 █ Liberal
Frank Putnam November 19, 1945 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Attorney General Royal Maitland December 10, 1941 March 28, 1946 █ Conservative
Gordon Sylvester Wismer March 28, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Education Henry George Thomas Perry December 10, 1941 November 19, 1945 █ Liberal
George Moir Weir November 19, 1945 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Finance John Hart December 10, 1941 April 12, 1946 █ Liberal
Herbert Anscomb April 12, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative
Minister of Fisheries Leslie Harvey Eyres April 17, 1947 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative
Minister of Health and Welfare George Sharratt Pearson October 1, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Labour George Sharratt Pearson December 10, 1941 October 16, 1947 █ Liberal
Gordon Sylvester Wismer October 16, 1947 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Lands and Forests[lower-alpha 1] Wells Gray December 10, 1941 May 7, 1944 █ Liberal
John Hart May 11, 1944 November 8, 1944 █ Liberal
Edward Tourtellotte Kenney November 8, 1944 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Mines Herbert Anscomb December 10, 1941 October 28, 1942 █ Conservative
Ernest Crawford Carson October 28, 1942 April 12, 1946 █ Conservative
Roderick Charles MacDonald April 12, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative
Minister of Municipal Affairs Wells Gray December 10, 1941 May 7, 1944 █ Liberal
Herbert Anscomb May 11, 1944 April 12, 1946 █ Conservative
Roderick Charles MacDonald April 12, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative
Provincial Secretary George Sharratt Pearson December 10, 1941 December 29, 1947 █ Liberal
Minister of Public Works Rolf Wallgren Bruhn December 10, 1941 August 30, 1942 █ Conservative
John Hart September 4, 1942 September 15, 1942 █ Liberal
Herbert Anscomb September 15, 1942 April 12, 1946 █ Conservative
Leslie Harvey Eyres April 12, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative
Minister of Railways Rolf Wallgren Bruhn December 10, 1941 August 30, 1942 █ Conservative
John Hart September 4, 1942 September 15, 1942 █ Liberal
Herbert Anscomb September 15, 1942 April 12, 1946 █ Conservative
Ernest Crawford Carson April 12, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative
Minister of Trade and Industry Herbert Anscomb December 10, 1941 October 28, 1942 █ Conservative
Ernest Crawford Carson October 28, 1942 April 12, 1946 █ Conservative
Leslie Harvey Eyres April 12, 1946 December 29, 1947 █ Conservative

Cabinet shuffles

On August 30, 1942, Rolf Wallgren Bruhn, the Minister of Public Works and Minister of Railways, died in office.[7] Hart temporarily took responsibility for the portfolios until Herbert Anscomb was sworn in as the new minister on September 15.[8] Anscomb held the portfolios in conjunction with his prior role as Minister of Mines and Minister of Trade and Industry until October 28, when Ernest Crawford Carson was appointed to cabinet for the latter two.[9]

On May 7, 1944, longtime minister Wells Gray died.[10] Anscomb took responsibility for the municipal affairs portfolio, while Hart took lands and forests; the two had already been acting ministers for the portfolios during Gray's illness.[11] On November 8, Hart passed the lands portfolio to new cabinet minister Edward Tourtellotte Kenney.[12]

On November 16, 1945, Henry George Thomas Perry resigned as Minister of Education; he was succeeded by George Weir on November 19.[13] Also on November 19, agriculture minister K. C. MacDonald died.[14] Frank Putnam was sworn in as the new agriculture minister on November 21. Putnam had previously been agriculture minister in the short-lived minority government of the Pattullo ministry.[15]

On March 28, 1946, Royal Maitland, Attorney General and leader of the Conservative Party, died unexpectedly.[16] Selecting a replacement was a difficult task: the coalition agreement had ensured the attorney general post would be given to a Conservative, but no Tory MLAs were lawyers. Additionally, the new party leader would be entitled to a high-ranking ministry. One suggestion was to recruit Howard Green, the MP for Vancouver South, as Conservative leader and attorney general.[17] Ultimately, Hart appointed Gordon Sylvester Wismer, a Liberal, as the new attorney general, but pledged to increase the size of cabinet and appoint two more Conservatives.[18] On April 12, Hart reorganized his cabinet accordingly, bringing Leslie Harvey Eyres and Roderick Charles MacDonald, both Conservatives, to cabinet. Hart also relinquished the finance ministry, which he had held for much of the last 13 years to Anscomb; Carson, in turn, took over Anscomb's previous portfolio of public works.[19]

New ministries

On February 21, 1946, the government announced plans to establish a Department of Health; until then, health policy had been the purview of the Provincial Secretary.[20] The Department of Health and Welfare was formally established on October 1, 1946, with George Sharratt Pearson as its inaugural minister.[21]

On February 15, 1947, the government announced plans to establish an independent Department of Fisheries.[22] Previously, fisheries were the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry, overseen by the Commissioner of Fisheries; the reorganization saw the commissioner named deputy minister of the new department and the incumbent Minister of Trade and Industry, Leslie Harvey Eyres, given the additional role as Minister of Fisheries.[23] Officials believed the new department would "dignify" the industry, as every other province had a fisheries minister.[24] However, opposition leader Harold Winch criticized the plan as something "just to give [Eyres] another ministry".[23] Eyres was sworn in as the minister on April 17, 1947.[25]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Lands" from December 19, 1941 to April 5, 1945

References

  1. ↑ "'We Elected The Largest Group'". Vancouver Sun. November 15, 1941. pp. A1.
  2. ↑ Nesbitt, J.K. (December 3, 1941). "Liberals Vote for Coalition 477 to 312, Hart Succeeds Pattullo as Liberal Chief". Victoria Daily Times. pp. A13.
  3. ↑ "House to Recess So Hart, Maitland Can Set Up Gov't". Vancouver Sun. December 4, 1941. pp. A1.
  4. ↑ Hutchinson, Bruce (December 3, 1941). "New 8-Man B.C. Cabinet Announced". Vancouver Sun. pp. A1, A10.
  5. ↑ "John Hart Announces Retirement". Vancouver Sun. October 2, 1947. pp. A1.
  6. ↑ "Premier Johnson Formally Sworn In With Cabinet". Victoria Daily Times. December 29, 1947. pp. A1.
  7. ↑ "Hon. Rolf W. Bruhn's Death Widely Mourned". Vancouver Daily Province. August 31, 1942. p. 7.
  8. ↑ "Anscomb Lauded: New Minister Is Sworn In". Vancouver Daily Province. September 15, 1942. p. 7.
  9. ↑ "E.C. Carson New Minister Of Industry". Vancouver Daily Province. October 28, 1942. p. 1.
  10. ↑ "Hon. A. Wells Gray Passes At Victoria". Vancouver Daily Province. May 8, 1944. p. 22.
  11. ↑ "Take More Work". Victoria Daily Times. May 12, 1944. p. 11.
  12. ↑ "B.C.'s New Minister of Lands Sworn In at Simple Ceremony". Vancouver Daily Province. November 8, 1944. p. 6.
  13. ↑ "To Install New Minister Soon". Nanaimo Free Press. November 16, 1945. p. 1.
  14. ↑ "Dr. K.C. MacDonald, B.C. Cabinet, Dead". Vancouver Sun. November 19, 1945. p. 1.
  15. ↑ "Frank Putnam Sworn In By Governor As Agricultre Minister". Victoria Daily Times. November 21, 1945. p. 16.
  16. ↑ "R. L. Maitland Dies Suddenly". Vancouver Sun. March 28, 1946. pp. 1–2.
  17. ↑ "Green Suggested for B.C. Cabinet". Vancouver Sun. March 29, 1946. p. 8.
  18. ↑ "Cabinet Enlarged As Wismer Named Attorney-General". Vancouver Daily Province. April 4, 1946. p. 1.
  19. ↑ "B.C. Cabinet Reorganized". Vancouver Sun. April 12, 1946. p. 1.
  20. ↑ "Gov't Welfare Program laid Before MLA's". Vancouver Sun. February 21, 1946. pp. A1.
  21. ↑ "Charles Banks Becomes B.C.'s Lieut.-Governor". The Province. October 1, 1946. pp. A1. Immediately after taking office, His Honor officiated at the swearing-in of Provincial Secretary Geroge Pearson as minister of health and welfare, a post created by the lesgislation passed at the 1946 session.
  22. ↑ "3 Bills For Starting Fisheries Department". Victoria Daily Times. February 15, 1947. p. 10.
  23. 1 2 "Keep Your Shirt On, Eyres Tells Winch". Vancouver Sun. March 25, 1947. p. 3.
  24. ↑ "New Minister to 'Dignify' Fishing Industry of B.C.". Vancouver Daily Province. February 12, 1947. p. 30.
  25. ↑ "Eyres Sworn in As Fisheries Minister". Vancouver Sun. April 18, 1947. p. 14.

Sources

"British Columbia Executive Council Appointments (1871-1986)" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. pp. 52–54. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
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