Charles Avery Dunning
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Hon. Charles Avery Dunning |
Charles Avery Dunning, PC (
July 31,
1885 –
October 2,
1958) was born in
Croft,
Leicestershire,
England.
Known throughout his life as "Charlie", Dunning, a 17 year old young iron worker, followed a friend's advice and travelled to
Canada 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.
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.
Dunning's interests turned to politics. The Liberal government of
Walter Scott, 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 as a Liberal in a by-election held in the Kinistino constituencey in
1916. Unopposed, he was acclaimed a Member of the Legislative Assembly. During his time in provincial politics, Dunning persuaded the farmer's movement in Saskatchewan to support the
Saskatchewan Liberal Party and the
Liberal Party of Canada. During the 1920's, 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 and the
United Farmers.
Entering the government of
Premier William M. Martin (another outsider brought in to "clean up" the reputation of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party), Dunning became Provincial Treasurer, a post he held continuously for his ten years as an MLA.
In the general election of 1917, Dunning won a contested race for the seat of Moose Jaw County 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, and won a contested race in the general election of 1925 by a 2.5 to 1 margin.
Between 1916 and 1922, Charles Dunning held a series of Cabinet posts, which included appointments as Provincial Secretary and Provincial Treasurer, and as the Ministers of Agriculture, Municipal Affairs, Railways, and Telephones. In 1922, at age 37, he became Premier.
Dunning's government ended
prohibition 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 for $11 million (the equivalent in 2005 would be $130 million).
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The Original Crown Grant for the Dunning Homestead |
In
1925, Dunning was courted by Federal Liberals. He was seen as a possible successor to
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King,whose political future was in doubt. In addition to electoral difficulties, King was embroiled in a constitutional dispute with
Governor General Lord Byng of Vimy (the
King-Byng Affair).
In 1926, Dunning left provincial politics. He won the seat of
Regina by acclamation in a by-election held in March of 1926, the first of three elections he would face in under 9 months. Dunning entered
Parliament as an opposition member. By summer, King had managed to unseat the government of
Arthur Meighen and force a general election. Dunning's seat was contested this time. He won by 900 votes in a tight race. In November, Regina was the subject of a by-election, and Dunning was again acclaimed. King rewarded Dunning with a seat in the federal
Cabinet, but the relationship was never easy. King regarded Dunning as a threat.
Entering Cabinet 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 estabished 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 Beaverdale to Parkerview, Saskatchewan. He also settled a longstanding debate by choosing
Churchill, Manitoba 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. The shipping route to Churchill was 1600 kilometres shorter than the old overland route to
Montreal.
Still a young man, at age 44, Dunning became
Minister of Finance 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.
Charles 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.
In 1930, when the United States proposed the draconian Smoot-Hawley tariff, Canada's response was the Dunning 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.
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Premier's Portrait of Dunning Housed in the Legislative Gallery, Legislature of Saskatchewan |
+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 1930's). Dunning lost his Regina seat by over 3500 votes (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 began his business career reorganizing an underperforming subsidiary of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, thereafter establishing a reputation as a brilliant reorganizer of insolvent companies.
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, a sitting Member of Parliament stepped aside, and Dunning was yet again acclaimed in a
1936 byelection held in Queen's constituency in
Prince Edward Island. 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.
In ill health, Dunning left politics in
1939, relocating to Montreal. 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 presigious corporate and bank boards, including that of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
In 1940, Charles Dunning was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by
Queen's University, and became
Chancellor 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.
Other Universities which granted Honorary Doctorates to Dunning included McGill University in 1939 and the University of Saskatchewan, in 1946.
In 2005, as part of Saskatchewan's centennial celebration, 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 Dunnning's long tenure as Provincial Treasurer.
Charles Avery Dunning died in
1958 in Montreal. He was 74 years old.
*
Biography from the Library of Parliament*
Dunning Monument - Speaker's Corner*
Queen's University , Dunning and Dunning Hall *
Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame*
CBC - article on Chretien/Martin tension - reference to King and Dunning*
CBC - integrity in politics (mention of Dunning)
