John Bracken

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John Bracken (around 1941)

John Bracken , PC (born June 22, 1883 in Ellisville , Ontario , † March 18, 1969 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian politician , agronomist and author . From August 8, 1922 to January 14, 1943, he was Prime Minister of the Province of Manitoba . In 1942 he took over the chairmanship of the newly founded progressive-conservative party and led this party , which was active at the federal level, until 1948. From 1945 to 1949 he was a member of the lower house .

biography

Bracken, the son of a dairy farmer, studied agricultural science at the Ontario Agricultural College. In 1905 he moved to Saskatchewan Province , where he worked for the Department of Agriculture. In 1910 he was appointed professor of animal husbandry at the University of Saskatchewan . Bracken was a recognized expert in the field of dry farming and authored several books on the subject. Crop Production in Western Canada (1920) and Dry Farming in Western Canada (1921) became standard works. From 1920 he built the Agricultural College of the Manitoba Province.

In 1922 Bracken ran successfully in the election for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba . He was a member of the United Farmers of Manitoba , a loose association of farmers who were disappointed with party politics. The United Farmers won an absolute majority but had no chairman, so they turned to Bracken. He accepted the offer and was sworn in as Prime Minister. In addition to his post as head of government, he held other ministerial posts for the next 21 years (education 1922–1923, railways 1922–1923 and 1935–1940, agriculture 1923–1925 and 1936, treasury 1925–1932, utilities 1927–1928, mining 1928– 1930).

After the 1928 election, the United Farmers formed the Progressive Party of Manitoba . Four years later it merged with the Liberals to form the Liberal Progressive Party . Bracken endeavored to give his government broad support and repeatedly entered into coalitions with other parties. Despite working with the Liberals at the provincial level, Bracken received an offer to lead the Conservative Party at the federal level . In December 1942 he was elected chairman, on condition that the party be ideologically closer to the center and renamed the Progressive-Conservative Party .

A few weeks later, Bracken resigned as Prime Minister of Manitoba. He initially decided not to secure a seat in the lower house through a by-election . Eventually he was elected in the 1945 general election in the Neepawa constituency. However, the progressive conservatives clearly missed their election target and remained in the opposition. Bracken was never really able to win over the influential members from the eastern provinces and was eventually urged to resign. He was succeeded as Chairman in October 1948 by George A. Drew . Bracken lost his seat in the general election in 1949 , withdrew from politics and then devoted himself to horse breeding in Ontario .

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personal data
SURNAME Bracken, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Starchewsky, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Ellisville , Ontario
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 1969
Place of death Ottawa