Charles Avery Dunning
Encyclopedia
Charles Avery Dunning, PC
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

 (July 31, 1885 – October 2, 1958) was born in Croft
Croft, Leicestershire
Croft is a village of 700 homes in the district of Blaby in Leicestershire, England, off the old Fosse Way and straddling the River Soar. Nearby places include Stoney Stanton, Broughton Astley, Huncote and Narborough...

, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England. During his career, he was a successful businessman, a Canadian politician (both federal and provincial), and a university chancellor.

Early life

Known throughout his life as "Charlie", Dunning, a 17-year-old iron worker, followed a friend's advice and traveled to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 to work as a farm hand. Satisfied that a permanent move to Canada made sense, he convinced the remainder of his family to come to East Central Saskatchewan. Dunning filed for a homestead in the Beaverdale district, west of Yorkton.

Early business career

During his short career as a farmer, Dunning was involved in the local of the Territorial Grain Growers Association, an early proponent of a farmer-owned cooperative grain marketing system. At his first general meeting of the Association, Dunning's enthusiasm was apparent, and he was promptly elected as a director. The following year, he was elected as vice-president of the Association.

A co-operative marketing system required physical assets. The Association convinced the Saskatchewan government to assist by incorporating the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company, and provide it with limited financial backing. Dunning was appointed a provisional director of a Board that had only a few months to raise the necessary capital to build a line of rural grain elevators. At age 25, the youngest man on the Board, Dunning watched as each one of his seniors turned down the critical job of organizing the capital campaign. Dunning took the job and succeeded. The following year, in 1911, he was rewarded for his efforts by being named the first general manager of the Company. Four years later, it was the largest grain handling company in the world. As manager, Dunning was instrumental in developing a provincial hail insurance scheme, which survives today as Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance.

Enters politics

Dunning's interests turned to politics. The Liberal government of Walter Scott
Thomas Walter Scott
Thomas Walter Scott – known less formally as Walter Scott – was the first Premier of the province of Saskatchewan in Canada .-Background:...

, Saskatchewan's first premier, was tainted with allegations of corruption. Traditional politics were being challenged, as farmer's movements had become politically active, creating political parties throughout Canada.

Dunning first ran for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
The 25th Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan was in power from 2003 until November 20, 2007. It was controlled by the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party under premier Lorne Calvert.-Members:-By-elections:...

 as a Liberal in a by-election held in the Kinistino constituency in 1916. Unopposed, he was acclaimed a Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

. During his time in provincial politics, Dunning persuaded the farmer's movement in Saskatchewan to support the Saskatchewan Liberal Party
Saskatchewan Liberal Party
The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.-Early history :The party dominated Saskatchewan politics for the province's first forty years providing six of the first seven Premiers, and being in power for all but five of the years between the...

 and the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

. During the 1920s, Dunning was able to maintain support for both the federal and provincial parties at a time when farmers elsewhere switched their support to the Progressive Party of Canada
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...

 and the United Farmers
United Farmers of Canada
The United Farmers of Canada was a radical farmers organization. It was established in 1926 as the United Farmers of Canada as a merger of the Farmers' Union of Canada and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association...

.

Entering the government of Premier William M. Martin
William Melville Martin
William Melville Martin served as the second Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from 1916 to 1922....

 (another outsider brought in to "clean up" the reputation of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party), Dunning became Provincial Treasurer
Provincial Treasurer
In Canadian politics the Provincial Treasurer is a senior protfolio in the Executive Council of provincial governments. The position is the provincial equivalent of the Minister of Finance and is responsible for setting the provincial budget. In most provinces the title of the position has changed...

, a post he held continuously for his ten years as an MLA.

In the general election of 1917
Saskatchewan general election, 1917
The Saskatchewan general election of 1917 was the fourth provincial election in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was held on June 26, 1917, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan....

, Dunning won a contested race for the seat of Moose Jaw County
Moose Jaw County
Moose Jaw County was a provincial electoral division for the Legislative Assembly of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The district was created as "Moose Jaw" before the 1st Saskatchewan general election in 1905. The riding was abolished and combined with the districts of Lumsden,...

 by obtaining twice the votes of his opponent. He remained the member for Moose Jaw County for the remainder of his time in provincial politics. Dunning ran unopposed in the general election of 1921
Saskatchewan general election, 1921
The Saskatchewan general election of 1921 was the fifth provincial election held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was held on June 9, 1921 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan....

, and won a contested race in the general election of 1925
Saskatchewan general election, 1925
The Saskatchewan general election of 1925 was the sixth provincial election held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was held on June 2, 1925 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan....

 by a 2.5 to 1 margin.

Between 1916 and 1922, Charles Dunning held a series of Cabinet posts
Executive Council of Saskatchewan
The Executive Council of Saskatchewan is the cabinet of that Canadian province....

, which included appointments as Provincial Secretary
Provincial Secretary
The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...

 and Provincial Treasurer
Provincial Treasurer
In Canadian politics the Provincial Treasurer is a senior protfolio in the Executive Council of provincial governments. The position is the provincial equivalent of the Minister of Finance and is responsible for setting the provincial budget. In most provinces the title of the position has changed...

, and as the Ministers of Agriculture, Municipal Affairs, Railways, and Telephones. In 1922, at age 37, he became Premier.

Dunning's government ended prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

 after a 1924 plebiscite, but sought to continue regulation through government-owned and operated liquor stores. His last official act as Premier was to arrange for the sale of the Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator Company to the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was a grain handling, agri-food processing and marketing company based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Pool created a network of marketing alliances in North America and internationally which made it the largest agricultural grain handling operation in the province of...

 for $11 million (the equivalent in 2005 would be $130 million).

Federal cabinet minister

In 1926, Dunning was courted by Federal Liberals, to join the minority government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...

. He won the seat of Regina
Regina (electoral district)
Regina was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1908 to 1935.This riding was created in 1907 from parts of the former Northwest Territories ridings Assiniboia West and Qu'Appelle ridings...

 by acclamation in a by-election held in March, and was immediately appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Railways and Canals.

By June, King was no longer able to govern, as a result of political scandal and the withdrawal of support by the Progressive Party
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...

. King went to Governor General Lord Byng of Vimy
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy
Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since Canadian Confederation....

 asking Byng to dissolve Parliament and call a general election. Byng refused, relying on the reserve power invested in him by the Imperial Government. Instead he asked Conservative Leader, Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...

 to form a government. Dunning was now in opposition.

The matter continued over the summer. King took the position that Byng's refusal was unwarranted Imperial interference in Canadian affairs. King's grievance with the Governor General gained momentum when Meighen refused to swear in his cabinet, and instead appointed "acting ministers", pending a delayed vote of confidence. While this ongoing drama played out (the King-Byng Affair
King-Byng Affair
The King–Byng Affair was a Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926, when the Governor General of Canada, the Lord Byng of Vimy, refused a request by his prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, to dissolve parliament and call a general election....

), there was doubt in Liberal ranks about King's viability as leader. A movement began to take shape among leading Liberals to draft Dunning as a replacement.

By September, King had convinced the Progressives to support him in a non-confidence vote. The Conservatives lost and the Liberals won the ensuing general election. King (and the leaders of the other Dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...

s) won recognition of autonomous status from the Imperial government (the Balfour Declaration of 1926) followed by the Statute of Westminster 1931
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom...

. Doubts about King's status ended.

Dunning had won a contested race by 900 votes, and had again appointed to the same cabinet portfolio, but the relationship was never easy thereafter. King regarded Dunning as a threat.

During his time as Minister of Railways and Canals, Dunning was a staunch supporter of Sir Henry Thornton, the U.S.-born Englishman who, in 1922 had taken over the presidency of the Canadian National Railways. In that portfolio, Dunning established himself as a friend of the Western farmer.
Decisions made during his tenure included his accession to a petition from area farmers to have the Canadian National Railways build a branch line through his old home of Beaver Dale
Beaver Dale, Saskatchewan
Beaver Dale is an unincorporated area in the rural municipality of Garry No. 245, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Beaver Dale is located on Township road 263 in east Saskatchewan.-See also:*List of communities in Saskatchewan...

 to Parkerview, Saskatchewan
Parkerview, Saskatchewan
Parkerview is an unincorporated area in the rural municipality of Garry No. 245, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Parkerview is located on Highway 617 at the junction of Township road 275 in eastern Saskatchewan.-See also:...

. He also settled a longstanding debate by choosing Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...

 as the terminus of the Hudson Bay Railway. Upon completion of the railway and port facilities in 1931, Churchill became the closest Canadian port to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. The shipping route to Churchill was 1,600 kilometres shorter than the old overland route to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

Minister of Finance

Still a young man, at age 44, Dunning became Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...

 in 1929. As in his previous portfolio, Dunning earned a reputation for hard work and fairness. It was said that it was typical of Dunning that, although feeling ill, he remained on his feet throughout the reading and passage of his first set of estimates as Minister of Finance. As soon as the estimates were passed, Dunning collapsed and was rushed to the hospital to be treated for appendicitis.

Dunning was not only interested in domestic politics. He was also keenly interested in international politics, and particularly, in Canada's relationship with his "old country", the United Kingdom. Dunning participated in Canada's delegation to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

.

In 1930, when the United States proposed the draconian Smoot-Hawley tariff, Canada's response was the Dunning tariff with increased duties and further tariff preference for the United Kingdom. The tariff was challenged by the opposition on the basis that the imperial preference was prejudicial to Canadian interests.

Defeated, returns to business

Several months later, in the 1930 General Election, R.B. Bennett wrested power from King (notwithstanding Bennett's views while in opposition, the Dunning tariff remained in effect until renegotiated in the late 1930s). Dunning lost his Regina seat by over 3,500 votes (obtaining only two-thirds of the winner's total). Safe Liberal seats were offered to Dunning, but he turned them down, thinking that a business career would protect his family's financial future. He restarted his business career reorganizing an under-performing subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

, thereafter establishing a reputation as a brilliant re-organizer of insolvent companies.

Return to politics

King regained power in the 1935 general election. He immediately went to Dunning, pressing him to re-enter polities. King convinced Dunning that he was needed in the tough economic times created by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, a sitting Member of Parliament stepped aside, and Dunning was yet again acclaimed in a 1936 by-election held in Queen's constituency in Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

. Dunning returned to the Finance portfolio. This time, one of Dunning's legacies was the establishment of the Central Mortgage Bank, today the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is a Crown corporation, owned by the Government of Canada, founded after World War II to provide housing for returning soldiers...

.

Business executive

In ill health, Dunning left politics in 1939, relocating to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. In 1940, he was appointed as President and CEO of Ogilvie Flour Mills, a position he held until 1947, when he was appointed Chairman of the Board. In addition to his Board duties with Ogilvie, Dunning continued his business of corporate reorganization. He sat on a number of prestigious corporate and bank boards, including that of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

.

Chancellor of Queen's University

In 1940, Dunning was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Queen's University, and became Chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....

 of the University. Dunning's abilities earned him the gratitude of the university, which named Dunning Hall (School of Economics) in his honour. The Chancellor Dunning Trust Lectureship was established by an anonymous donor, to "promote the understanding and appreciation of the supreme importance of the dignity, freedom, and responsibility of the individual person in human society". More recently, the University has established the Stauffer-Dunning Chair in Public Policy.

Later life, honours

Other Universities which granted Honorary Doctorates to Dunning included McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

 in 1939 and the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

, in 1946. Charles Avery Dunning died in 1958 in Montreal. He was 74 years old.

In 2005, as part of Saskatchewan's centennial celebration, Dunning's memory was commemorated in two ways. First, the Provincial Revenue Building was renamed Dunning Place. (The Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator Company had its offices in the building when Dunning was General Manager). The choice is particularly appropriate, given Dunning's long tenure as Provincial Treasurer.
Second, on the initiative of Saskatchewan's Lieutenant-Governor, Dr. Gordon Barnhart
Gordon Barnhart
-See also:*Monarchy in Saskatchewan*Government House - External Links :* -Sources:* by Sarah Macdonald, The Leader-Post, July 31, 2006, retrieved August 1, 2006,* retrieved December 18, 2006,***-References:...

, Dunning's gravesite, in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery, will be commemorated by a bronze plaque, recognizing Dunning's contribution to the people of Saskatchewan.

External links

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