Arthur Sturgis Hardy

Arthur Sturgis Hardy, QC ( born December 14, 1837 in Mount Pleasant, Upper Canada, † June 13, 1901 in Toronto, Ontario) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. Of 21 July 1896 to 20 October 1899, he was Prime Minister of the Province of Ontario and Chair of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Biography

Hardy, the son of a farmer, visited Mount Pleasant led by a village priest private school, then the Rockwood Academy in Rockwood. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1865. First, he was employed in the office of his uncle, until he opened his own in Brantford in 1867. In 1866 he joined the Freemasons.

During his studies, he had gained some political experience as a member of George Brown's election committee. For professional reasons, he had the offer of the Liberal Party of Canada to compete at the 1872 general election, refuse. A year later, however, he won a by-election in the constituency Brant South and entered the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Prime Minister Oliver Mowat appointed Hardy in March 1877 Provincial Secretary ( Provincial secretary ). This office was the second highest after that of the Government and included a range of tasks, including the maintenance of external relations, the supervision of the State Administration and the preservation of the seal. He remained there until January 1889 in office when Mowat appointed him Commissioner for Crown land. As such, he was responsible for the then most important source of income of the province, the grant of forestry and mining licenses. In 1893, he led the establishment of the Algonquin Provincial Park, the first protected reserve of Ontario.

After Mowat change in federal policy Hardy was as official oldest member of the Cabinet, his successor, on 21 July 1896, he assumed the offices of the Prime Minister, the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Ontario Liberal Party. The most controversial decision of his government was a new forestry law in late December 1897. It specified that all felled trees on Crown land had to be necessarily processed in Canada. The measure had protests on the part of competitors in neighboring Michigan and the intervention of the U.S. Secretary of State result.

The elections in March 1898 ended with a much reduced seat majority of liberals. The defeated conservatives, who had only seven fewer seats won, raised accusations of manipulation. So many people have repeatedly voted for the Liberals and in several constituencies state employees should have occurred as a fake returning officer. On the advice of his doctor of difficult diabetic Hardy resigned on 20 October 1899. Slightly more than one and a half years later he died of a botched appendectomy.