Doug Boylan is
a former Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island and Clerk of
the Executive Council. At the time this article was written he was teaching at the University of Prince Edward
Island.
This
year the Canadian Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association holds
its annual Conference in Canada’s smallest province whose distinctiveness
derives from its history, location and political traditions. This article looks
at some recurring themes in Prince Edward Island history, outlines the
contributions of five notable Premiers and concludes with some little known
facts about Island politics.
What are the constants which,
arguably, define our sense of place in Prince Edward Island? First and foremost
is the very land, a finite resource threatened by overuse and over development.
Since the creation of the colony in 1769 through to the present, Islanders and
their successive governments have grappled with the nature of land ownership,
more recently, the use–or abuse–of our land. By a rather remarkable lottery
held in 1765 (a precursor to our all-pervasive 6-49 lottery), the ownership of
most Island land was placed in non-resident hands, with Britons who had some
claim of favour from the monarch of the day. The subsequent one hundred years,
through to the Island’s entry into the Canadian union in 1873, centred around
efforts to dislodge the absentee landlords and to enable the tenantry to
acquire land in freehold. It was a bitter contest both in the House and in the
countryside and its legacy remains firmly implanted, the concept of “my land,
to do with what I will”. In recent times, governments of both political stripes
have attempted to grapple with land-related problems: inadequate crop rotation,
compaction, soil runoff and high levels of pesticide and fertiliser
applications. Almost, one might suggest, there is too much history associated
with our land?
Several other recurring themes
come to mind. Until the completion of the “fixed link Confederation
Bridge ” in 1997, communication with the mainland of Canada was a never-ending
concern for Islanders. For more than a century, the mainland link–especially
during the winter months when ice clogged the Northumberland Straits–was tenuous
at best. It may be that this long-standing concern has been overcome, but some
will argue that the bridge comes at a cost, that the Island will become
something of a Coney Island North with all of the attendant problems of numbers
and tacky attractions!
Another constant in our history
is the Island’s place in the Canadian union. Prince Edward Island was a
reluctant entrant into the Canadian union in 1873, succumbing to an
insurmountable railroad debt, pressure from Britain to join the new nation and
the financial blandishments of Sir John A. Macdonald. Until recent times, the
Province was heavily dependent on federal transfers of all sorts and sizes; as
much as 60% of annual budgets was “federal money” but now, as a result of
determined efforts to expand economic activity, that amount has shrunk to
somewhat less than 40%.
A final reoccurring feature of
Island society – and one of particular interest to parliamentarians – is what I
would term electoral extremes. Given the small size of our House [30 seats from
1893 to 1966, 32 seats from 1966 to 1996 and presently 27 seats], the odds for
either sweeps or close returns are high. At present, our standing is 26/1 and,
in this century, results of 30/0, 30/2, 31/1, 26/1 and 17/15 have occurred.
While such results provide a measure of titillation for the media and for the
public, they do not bode well for the conduct of parliamentary business.
Another aspect of elections and party that continues to intrigue political
theorists and junkies is the near failure of Third Parties to “catch on” in the
PEI political firmament. The “break through” by the NDP in the 1996 General
Election – the first Third Party representation in the House – came to a
somewhat abrupt halt in the most recent general election.
Some Notable Political
Leaders
From the grant of Responsible
Government in 1851 down to the present, our political offices have been
occupied by many leaders with notable political and administrative skills. To
select five or six from that number is to short-change many not chosen but my
list – totally subjective – will, I hope give an indication of the ongoing
determination to grapple with local problems which have arisen since our
Confederation with Canada. But before my comments on “my five Premiers” allow
me to give honourable mention to three others who do not make my list. To Sir
Henry Louis Davies, Island politician, then a federal cabinet minister in
Laurier’s government and finally Chief Justice of Canada, the only Islander to
be so named since the Court’s creation. More recently, to the Hon. Joe Ghiz, an
eloquent spokesman for his home Province and a passionate Canadian. And
finally, mention must be made of the Hon. J. Angus MacLean, recently deceased,
who represented PEI in the House of Commons for twenty-four years, was a
staunch supporter of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, served in
Diefenbaker’s Cabinet from 1957 to 1963, was elected leader of the Island
Conservative Party and subsequently as our Premier from 1979-1981. He was a
remarkable contribution to the public life of Canada and the Island. Angus’
clash with Gordon Sinclair on “Front Page Challenge” as to whether he was first
a Canadian or an Islander remains part of Island folklore.
But five Premiers, in
particular, have made significant and timely contributions to our government
and House: W.W. Sullivan, J. Walter Jones, Walter R. Shaw and a father and son,
Thane Campbell and Alex Campbell.
William W. Sullivan, a lawyer,
politician and judge was next to Alex Campbell, the Island’s longest serving
Premier. It is also notable that Sullivan, a prominent Roman Catholic, gained
the leadership of the Conservative Party and held elected office for slightly
more than ten years at a time of much sectarian strife surrounding the public
school system in the province. Sullivan, above all a realist, was confronted by
problems all too familiar: a declining population, static grants from Ottawa,
increasing debt and an oversized public service.
Sullivan’s determined attempts
for increased federal transfers were largely unsuccessful as were his efforts
to increase local taxation. Reactionary measures followed: the secret ballot
was eliminated as too costly [and it did not return until 1913], statute labour
was reintroduced on provincial roads, the pay of MLAs was reduced, the number
and use of jurors was reduced in certain court actions and the overall number
of civil servants was substantially reduced as were their salaries.
Despite these rather draconian
economies, Sullivan was unable, over his ten-year term in office, to balance
the provincial budget. His appointment as Chief Justice in 1889 removed
Sullivan from the near-hopeless task of placing the Province’s finances on a
firm footing, a goal which he had persuded with a near-total commitment.
Sullivan’s twenty-years on the Bench were much more rewarding; until his
resignation in 1917, only seven of the cases which he had determined were
appealed to the Supreme Court in Ottawa and of those, six were dismissed. In
retirement, prior to his death in 1920, Sullivan lived in turn with his three
daughters. He walked daily and alone until he suffered a fall; his wife
insisted that he be accompanied on his walks. Sullivan reluctantly agreed but
only on the condition that his attendant walk some way behind.
Despite the agricultural nature
of the Island, it was not until 1935 that a farmer, Walter Lea, was elected
Premier. Lea was followed in the 1940s and the late 1950s by two “farmer” Premiers,
J. Walter Jones and Walter R. Shaw. Both were remarkably vigorous men and both
came to elected office rather late in life, certainly in today’s terms. And
both men were remarkably well-educated for their times, with almost unheard of
degrees in agriculture from the Ontario Agricultural College and both had a
life-long fascination with scientific agriculture.
After an early few years working
in government positions in both the United States and Canada, Jones established
a sizeable farming operation just across the river from Charlottetown in
Burnbury, he raised silver foxes for a short while and then shifted to
pure-bred Holstein cattle for which he became famous throughout North America.
Shaw, though maintaining and operating his family farm which dated back to the
early 1800s, was from graduation totally enmeshed in the public service of the
province starting with agricultural extension work and, finally, serving as
Deputy Minister of Agriculture from 1934 until his retirement in 1954.
Of the two men, Jones was much
more abrupt, opinionated and outspoken. His pronouncements on just about
anything under the sun, under or beyond his jurisdiction, still carry a sense
of pungency. On the repeal of the Prohibition regime in Prince Edward Island in
the late 1940s, Jones told his opponents [notably the Womens’ Christian
Temperance Union] that “prohibition was a noble experiment with human nature by
those who did not understand human nature.” And to the visiting Massey Royal
Commission on the Arts, Jones suggested that Prince Edward Island “should not
train a man too much for the first thing you know he is a professor and has
gone off to Upper Canada and we have had the expense of training him.” Jones
was rarely inclined to pull a punch! Walter Shaw, having completed what many
would consider a life’s work in agricultural administration, sought and gained
the leadership of the Conservative Party and, at the age of 72 in 1959, led his
party to an impressive 22/8 victory at the polls. Shaw sensed that Prince Edward
Island was not keeping pace with the rest of Canada in the provision of
government services, public education and adding value to our agricultural and
fishery products. During his two terms of office, tentative moves were made to
modernize, a period that was a precursor to the comprehensive macro and micro
planning which was the trademark of the late 1960s and on into the 1980s.
Walter Shaw was a gregarious,
outgoing person, simply, he “loved” people and, in return, he was thought of
with much affection by “his” people". In addition, he revelled in the
telling of stories and all with the most marvellous turn of phrase. Speaking in
a House debate after the defeat of his government in 1966 and sceptical that a
particular course of government action could be effected, Mr. Shaw
suggested," Mr. Speaker, such an action is about as likely as a goose
going to Constantinople."
Visitors who set aside the glossy tourist literature can, with a
bit of effort, get beyond the imagery of Anne of Green Gables, mushrooming golf
courses and the “Birthplace of Confederation” concept to discover aspects of
Island society which have been with us for generations.
And finally, two father and son
combinations, quite likely unique in Canadian politics, if not beyond our
borders? In the 1935 general election – the “clean-sweep”" election, – the
leader of the Liberal party, Walter Lea, was ailing and the brunt of the
campaign, meetings and strategy, was left to his able lieutenant, former Rhodes
scholar and Summerside lawyer, Thane Campbell. Campbell had as his close
advisor and strategist a young lawyer from Alberton, Jim Wells. It proved a
winning combination, producing back-to-back Liberal victories, 30/0 in 1935 and
27/3 in 1939.
Thirty years after that 1935
sweep. Thane’s thirty-two-year old son Alex contested and won the Liberal
leadership in the first open leadership convention in the Province. The next
year, in July of 1966, Alex Campbell’s Liberals were elected after a
cliff-hanger: 15/15 on general election night and then 17/15 when the
delayed-election results were tallied. Assisting Alex as campaign strategist
and confidant was Andy Wells, son of Jim. Thus, two father and son teams thirty
years apart and both highly successful at the polls and in government. Thane
Campbell won two elections prior to “retiring” to the Bench in 1943; Alex
Campbell holds the present record for successive victories [four in 1966, 1970,
1974 and 1978] and for the longest period in the Premier’s Office [twelve
years, two months and some few days]. Thane Campbell had a lifelong interest in
and concern for the broad heritage of Prince Edward Island. Shortly after
becoming Premier in 1936, he cleared the motor vehicle licensing office from
its premises on the second floor of Province House and restored the room as for
its original use, the Legislative Council [amalgamated with the Legislative
Assembly in 1893]. The former upper house served as the meeting place for the
delegates to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 and is now more often known
as the Memorial Chamber. Campbell Senior was also instrumental in the formation
of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and was, in the early 1970s its
first chair.
The premiership of Alex Campbell
from 1966 through 1978, was a period of near-total change in all aspects of the
Island’s economy, its educational system and the services, both voluntary and
regulatory, provided by the provincial government – in short – of its total
fabric. The merits of this all-intrusive planning and delivery effort, known as
the Comprehensive Development Plan, continue to be debated. To Campbell’s
credit, change was essential [if for no other reason than virtual bankruptcy in
1966] and he took an overall rather than a piecemeal approach to necessary
change.
Island Curios
What’s in a name? The name “Alex
Campbell” occurs at least three times in our political and judicial history.
The first Alex, Provincial Treasurer in the 1830s, was dismissed from office
when he was unable to account for the disappearance of 1/5th of the Colony’s
annual budget. A second Alex was set upon by a gang of “street arabs” in 1880;
in an attempt to scare-off his harassers, he fired his pistol in the air and
was promptly arrested for “discharging a pistol in a public place”. One
suspects a sympathetic judge, though, as the fine assessed was 5 cents. The
third Alex Campbell was, of course, the Islands longest-serving Premier
from 1966-1978.
And what of John Arbuckle, MLA
who, in 1840, was censured by the House for “unseemly insobriety”. Can we
assume that the House was also mindful of seemly insobriety? And in what colony
in the post-Responsible Government period has there been a full-fledged duel
between the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition? Why, here in Prince
Edward Island, of course, in the pleasant surrounds of Victoria Park. The
Leader of the Opposition, Edward Palmer, fired first, and missed. Premier Coles
did not return fire. Somewhat inconclusive, I suppose, but direct action
nonetheless. Other curiosities were:
- the 1836 statute which prohibited the vote to women as if the
matter was in doubt at that time; female suffrage was not introduced in
the Province until 1922.
- MLA, John MacIntosh, who, in 1844, spit in
the face of a priest for reasons supposedly associated with land ownership.
The priest is reputed to have placed a curse on MacIntosh, that henceforth
he would not be able to hold spit in his cheeks. From then on, it was
always noted that MacIntosh tended to drool.
- the glowing account in a local newspaper,
extolling the fact that there had not been a divorce on the Island for
thirty years. But neither had there been a divorce court during that
period.
- the delightful – or is it somewhat wicked –
assessment of Governor Fanning on his retirement from office in 1804
“...he retired with his reputation intact resulting from a combination of
his geniality, his deft duplicity and his judicious inaction.”
Let me give the final word to
Fr. Angus MacEachern, commenting as long ago as 1811: Islanders, he said, “are
extravagant in tea drinking, dress, grog and horse-racing”. His observation
stands the test of time providing only that we add an abiding interest in
politics!