William Melville Martin

William Melville Martin ( born August 23, 1876 in Norwich, Ontario, † June 22, 1970 in Regina ) was a Canadian politician and judge. Of 20 October 1916 to 5 April 1922 he was Prime Minister of the Province of Saskatchewan and chairman of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party. From 1908 to 1916 he sat for the Liberal Party of Canada in the House from 1941 to 1961 he presided over the Court of Appeal of Saskatchewan.

Study and federal policy

Martin grew up in the southwest of the province of Ontario in Huron County. From 1894 he studied classical archeology at the University of Toronto. In 1898 he graduated with honors and began a teaching degree in Hamilton. For two years he taught at the Wellington County and then returned to Toronto, where he studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1903, he joined the law firm of his cousin James Balfour in Regina. Two years later he married Florence Thompson, with whom he had three sons.

At the general election in 1908, Martin ran as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada and won in the constituency of Regina. He established himself as an advocate for the interests of western Canada and campaigned among other things for the construction of railway lines, lower freight rates and the establishment of wheat farmers' cooperatives. At the general election in 1911 he was re-elected.

Prime minister

1916 saw the Saskatchewan provincial government faced allegations of corruption. Prime Minister Thomas Walter Scott had health problems and resigned on 16 October. The ruling Saskatchewan Liberal Party could first find a suitable successor and finally turned to the completely unloaded Martin. He complied with the request and took over on 20 October, the government responsibility. In the elections to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in June 1917, the Liberals were able to celebrate an overwhelming victory, winning 51 of 59 seats. Martin himself was elected in the constituency of Regina City.

Movements such as the United Farmers and the Progressive Party of Canada benefited from the latent discontent among the rural population and threatened the leadership of the Liberals. So they could form minority governments in Ontario and Manitoba, Alberta even a majority government. In Saskatchewan, however, succeeded Martin integrate the agrarian- populist circles, by 1920, the ties to the Liberal Party at the federal level completely separated and prominent farmers' representatives like Charles Avery Dunning brought into the government. In the elections of June 1921 were obtained for the Saskatchewan Liberal Party only slight losses.

When Martin but before the general election in 1921 actively operating campaign for the Liberal Party of Canada, he brought many representatives of the Progressive Party on against him. The break in the provincial government eventually led to Martin's resignation on April 5, 1922, to his retirement from politics.

Other activities

Shortly after his resignation, Martin was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Province of Saskatchewan. His boss was Frederick Haultain, former Prime Minister of the Northwest Territories. 1941 Martin himself took the presidency of the Court of Appeal and held that post for twenty years, until old age of 84 years. During the Second World War, he managed the assets of enemy aliens in Canada. In 1949 he headed a commission which had been entrusted with the revision of the Canadian Criminal Code.

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