Thomas Alexander Crerar (1876-1975)

Farmer, grain dealer, MP (1917-1921), MP (1926-1930), MP (1936-1940), MP (1940-1945), Senator.

Born in Molesworth, Huron County, Ontario on 17 June 1876, son of William and Margaret Crerar, he came with his parents in 1881 to a homestead near Russell, Manitoba. Educated at Portage la Prairie Collegiate, he taught school, farmed on land obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company, and managed a grain elevator. On 21 January 1906, he married Jessie Hamilton of Solsgirth, Manitoba, with whom he had a daughter. He was a member of the IOOF, serving as noble grand of the Russell lodge.

In 1907 he became a director of the Grain Growers’ Company, and was subsequently president until its merger with Alberta Farmers’ Cooperative Elevator in 1917 to form United Grain Growers, of which he became president. He was appointed minister of agriculture in the Union government of 1917, responsible for the Wartime Food Control Board, but resigned in 1919 to protest high tariffs. He continued as president and general manager of United Grain Growers until 1929. He led the Farmers’ Progressive Party in the 1921 election, representing the moderates who wanted reform of the existing party system rather than a totally new political structure. He refused to join Mackenzie King’s government but also refused official Opposition status for the Progressives in 1921, and he resigned from the Progressive leadership in 1922. He joined the Liberal Cabinet as minister of railways and canals in 1929 but was defeated in the 1930 election. Crerar returned to the House in 1935 and became the leading member of the Liberal Cabinet until the end of World War Two, serving from 1935 to 1945 as minister of mines and resources. He was also a member of the Cabinet war committee and Cabinet wheat committee from 1939 to 1945. He supported overseas conscription in 1944 and was appointed to the Senate in 1945, retiring in 1966.

He served as President of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg from 1928 to 1929, and a Director of the Great-West Life Assurance Company from 1928 to 1964. He was the first politician awarded the Companion of the Order of Canada, and was inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Manitoba (1954) and the Centennial Medal of Honour (1970) by the Manitoba Historical Society.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

Silver Creek District in the Early Days
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1955-56 season

More information:

The Honourable Thomas Alexander Crerar, Marquette Riding and the Union Government Election of 1917 by Foster J. K. Griezic
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 28, 1971-72 Season

T. A. Crerar: A Political Life by J. E. Rea (1997).

Thomas Alexander Crerar, Manitobans Who Made A Difference, Manitoba Historic Resources

Thomas Alexander Crerar - Person of National Historic Significance

Sources:

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, 1911. C. W. Parker, editor. Canadian Press Association, Vancouver.

Profile revised: 27 October 2009

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