William Smithe

William Smithe

William Smithe (born June 30, 1842 in Matfen near Hexham , Northumberland , † March 28, 1887 in Victoria ) was a Canadian politician and farmer . He was Prime Minister of the Province of British Columbia from January 29, 1883 until his death .

biography

As a teenager, Smith worked (as his surname was then) for a dealer in Newcastle upon Tyne . In 1862 he emigrated to Canada and settled in the Cowichan River valley on Vancouver Island , where he built a farm. In the first election to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly in October 1871, Smith was elected as a member of the Cowichan constituency (parties did not exist then). He changed his last name to Smithe to differentiate himself from Amor De Cosmos , whose maiden name was also William Smith.

In 1875 Smithe rose to become an informal opposition leader. After George Anthony Walkem failed in February 1876 on a vote of no confidence , he turned down the office of Prime Minister and left it to Andrew Charles Elliott . Until June 1878 Smithe was Minister of Finance and Agriculture in Elliott's cabinet, then again leader of the opposition.

On January 29, 1883, Robert Beaven also failed because of a vote of no confidence and Smithe was commissioned by Lieutenant Governor Clement Francis Cornwall to form a government. In the same year he negotiated a contract with the federal government. This secured the financing of two important projects, the construction of port facilities near Victoria and the construction of a railway line on Vancouver Island, the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway . In 1884 the government ceded large areas to the Canadian Pacific Railway , which undertook to move the terminus of the transcontinental railroad from Port Moody to Granville (later Vancouver ) in return .

In response to popular pressure, Smithe's government passed several laws restricting Chinese immigration and denying them the right to buy crown land. Beginning in 1885, a poll tax of $ 50 was levied on all Asian immigrants . The opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway in July 1886 marked the beginning of a rapid economic boom. In 1887 Smithe fell ill with nephritis and died in office at the age of 44.

Web links

• William Smithe . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• William Smithe ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .