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Humphrey Mitchell

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Humphrey Mitchell
Mitchell in the mid-1940s.
Minister of Labour
In office
1941–1950
Prime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King
Preceded byNorman Alexander McLarty
Succeeded byPaul Martin Sr. (acting)
Member of Parliament
for Welland
In office
1942–1950
Preceded byArthur Damude
Succeeded byWilliam Hector McMillan
Member of Parliament
for Hamilton East
In office
1931–1935
Prime MinisterR. B. Bennett
Preceded byGeorge Rennie
Succeeded byAlbert A. Brown
Personal details
Born(1894-09-09)September 9, 1894
DiedAugust 1, 1950(1950-08-01) (aged 55)
Political partyLiberalLabour
ProfessionLand surveyor

Humphrey Mitchell, PC (September 9, 1894 – August 1, 1950) was a Canadian politician and trade unionist.

Life and career

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A land surveyor employed with Hamilton Hydro, Mitchell was active with the union movement in the city. Upon the death of Hamilton East's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), George Septimus Rennie in 1931, Mitchell was approached to run in the by-election to fill the seat as a Labour candidate. Hamilton East was a strong working class riding that had elected Labour candidates to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and to city council.

The Liberals, in opposition having lost the previous year's general election did not run a candidate against Mitchell in order to avoid dividing the anti-Conservative vote. Given future events, it is also possible the Liberals believed that Mitchell would support the Liberal Party unofficially if elected.

Mitchell won the by-election, and entered the House of Commons of Canada. He did not get along well with the rump of Independent Labour MPs led informally by J.S. Woodsworth and referred to as the "Ginger Group". While Mitchell attended the "founding meeting" of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in William Irvine's office, he refused to join the new party when Labour MPs joined with farmers groups, socialist groups and others to officially launch the CCF in 1932 and refused to work with its supporters in Parliament.

In the 1935 general election, the CCF ran a candidate against Mitchell in Hamilton East (while the Liberals, again, ran no candidate). The split in the labour and anti-Tory vote resulted in the Conservative candidate defeating Mitchell despite the nationwide trend against the Conservatives. Mitchell was then acclaimed to the Hamilton Board of Education as a school trustee that December.

Mitchell did not run in the 1940 election, however, following the death of Welland's Liberal MP in late 1941, Mitchell was appointed to the Cabinet of William Lyon Mackenzie King as Minister of Labour, and was elected shortly thereafter as the new Liberal MP for Welland. He served as Welland's MP and as Labour minister in the governments of King and Louis St. Laurent until his death in 1950.

Mitchell became Labour minister just over a year after the introduction of unemployment insurance in Canada, and oversaw the early implementation and expansion of the program. He also oversaw the mobilization of the labour force during World War II, and the widespread introduction of women into war production.

With the responsibilities his department had for immigration, he also had a controversial role in advocating and implementing the deportation or detention of tens of thousands of Japanese Canadians during the war.

Electoral record

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1949 Canadian federal election: Welland
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Humphrey Mitchell 23,734 47.3 +3.7
Progressive Conservative Sam Hughes 13,259 26.4 -6.3
Co-operative Commonwealth Armour McCrae 11,493 22.9 +6.4
Labor–Progressive Melbourne A. Doig 1,711 3.4
Total valid votes 50,197 100.0
1945 Canadian federal election: Welland
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Humphrey Mitchell 19,522 43.6 +1.3
Progressive Conservative Thomas Oscar Oliver 14,637 32.7
Co-operative Commonwealth Harland Roy Potter 7,383 16.5 -5.3
Farmer–Labour Fern A. Sayles 3,258 7.3
Total valid votes 44,800 100.0
Canadian federal by-election, 9 February 1942: Welland
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
On Mr. Damude's death, 15 September 1941
Liberal Humphrey Mitchell 11,875 42.3 -10.2 [1]
Independent J. Douglas Watt 10,106 36.0
Co-operative Commonwealth Mark Kriluk 6,122 21.8 +14.1
Total valid votes 28,103 100.0
Summary of the December 2, 1935 Hamilton Board of Education Ward 5 Trustee Election
Candidate Affiliation Popular vote Elected?
Votes %
  Humphrey Mitchell Independent Liberal-Labour Acclaimed
Total votes
Registered voters
Note: Candidate campaign colours are used as a visual differentiation between candidates and to indicate affiliation.
Sources: "Five School Trustees Are Not Opposed", Hamilton Spectator, November 22, 1935, pp. 7,17.
1935 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
Conservative Albert A. Brown 10,078
Labour Humphrey Mitchell 7,288
Reconstruction Donald A. Clarke 6,197
Co-operative Commonwealth John Mitchell 4,506

On Mr. Rennie's death, 13 October 1930:

By-election on 10 August 1931
Party Candidate Votes
Labour Humphrey Mitchell 10,919
Conservative Melville Robinson 7,263
Independent William Herbert Connor 507

References

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  1. ^ "Final Standings in By-Elections", Toronto Daily Star, February 10, 1942
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