(
August 12 ,
1896 -
January 5 ,
1953 ) was
Premier Of Ontario ,
Canada , from
1934 to
1942 . He was the youngest Premier in Ontario history, elected at age 37.
Born in
St. Thomas, Ontario , Hepburn worked as an onion
Farmer and also worked for the
Canadian Bank Of Commerce from 1913 to 1917. He briefly served in the
Royal Air Force in
World War I before returning to his farm. After the war, Hepburn joined the
United Farmers Of Ontario , but by the mid-1920s he switched to the Liberal Party. In the
1926 Election , he was elected to the
Canadian House Of Commons as a representative of Elgin West, and was overwhelmingly re-elected in the
1930 Election .
Later that year he became leader of the
Liberal Party Of Ontario . His support of farmers and free trade, and his former membership in the UFO allowed him to attract
Harry Nixon 's
Rump of
United Farmers Of Ontario Members Of The Legislative Assembly (MLAs) into the Liberal Party (as
Liberal-Progressive s). This and the
Great Depression led to the defeat the unpopular
Conservative premier
George Stewart Henry in the
1934 Provincial Election . His stance against the
Prohibition of alcohol allowed him to break the Liberal Party from the militant prohibitionist stance that had helped reduce it to a rural, Protestant south western Ontario rump in the
1920 s.
As premier, Hepburn closed the residence of the
Lieutenant Governor Of Ontario and cut back on other government spending in an attempt to alleviate the effects of the
Great Depression , which Henry had been unable to solve. Hepburn also cut spending on electric power from
Quebec , gave money to
Mining industries in northern
Ontario , and introduced compulsory milk
Pasteurization .
He was opposed to
Unions and refused to let the
CIO form unions in Ontario. On
April 8 ,
1937 , the CIO-backed
General Motors plant in
Oshawa went on strike, demanding 8-hour workdays, a seniority system, and recognition of their CIO-affiliated
United Auto Workers union. The strikers were also supported by the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation , Canada's left-wing party at the time. Hepburn, supported by the owners of the plant and General Motors, organized a volunteer police force to help him put down the strike when Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King refused to send the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police . This force was somewhat derisively known as "Hepburn's Hussars," or the "Sons of Mitches". Cabinet ministers who disagreed with Hepburn over the issue were forced to resign. However, the strike held out Hepburn capitulated on
April 23 .
Hepburn remained a bitter opponent of Mackenzie King after the strike, and harshly criticized King's war effort in
1940 after the outbreak of
World War II . He thought Canada should be doing more to support the war, and helped organize the military districts in Ontario, encouraging men to volunteer when Mackenzie King chose not to introduce
Conscription . Hepburn supported Mackenzie King's opponent
Arthur Meighen in a by-election in
Toronto in
1942 . However, King was politically much stronger than Hepburn and federal Liberal supporters as well as those who thought a rift between the provincial and federal parties was suicidal called for him to step down; Hepburn ultimately resigned as Premier in October 1942. Initially, he remained Liberal leader and appointed an ally,
Gordon Daniel Conant as Premier of the province while Hepburn remained
Provincial Treasurer leading many to think that Conant was Premier in name only. Senior cabinet ministers such as
Provincial Secretary Harry Nixon resigned demanding a
Leadership Convention and due to pressure from both provinical Liberals and the federal wing one was held in May
1943 at which Hepburn finally tendered his resignation as leader (by telegram) and Nixon was elected the new party leader and Premier.
The Liberals under Nixon were routed soon after in the
1943 Ontario Election , falling to
Third Party status behind the
Progressive Conservatives led by
George Drew , and the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation led by
Ted Jolliffe . The Liberal caucus unanimously asked Hepburn to resume the party's leadership in
1944 . He formed a
Liberal-Labour alliance with the
Communist Party Of Canada (at the time known as the
Labour Progressive Party ) for the
1945 Ontario Election , but lost his own
Seat in the Legislature and retired to his farm in St. Thomas, where he died in 1953.
Preceded by:
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Succeeded by:
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Preceded by:
| First leadership (1930-1942)
| Followed by:
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Preceded by:
| Second leadership (1944-1945)
| Followed by:
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Preceded by:
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Succeeded by:
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