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Serving Agriculture:
Canada's Ministers of Agriculture

Thomas Alexander Crerar

Birthplace

Federal Constituency

Education

Professional Background

Political Affiliation

"In T.A. Crerar, Minister of Agriculture for the Unionists, the farmers had a leader who even wrote his ministerial letters on United Grain Growers' paper."
-- Canadian historian Desmond Morton, A Short History of Canada

Political Career

Crerar developed his taste for politics as the first reeve of Silver Creek, Manitoba. He entered the national political scene when he was elected as MP for Marquette in 1917.

Crerar's impressive credentials as a farmer, grain buyer and rural activist made him an ideal candidate for the agriculture portfolio. He was appointed minister of agriculture in October 1917, serving in a wartime coalition (Union) government dedicated to non-partisanship and to the effective channelling of Dominion resources toward the war effort in Europe.

The Canadian Council of Agriculture drafted a farmers' platform in 1916. Farmers proposed a different national policy: reciprocity, lower freight rates, bank reforms, railway nationalization and a graduated income tax. In 1918, farmers were furious at the cancellation of their sons' exemption from conscription.

Minister Crerar was listening and fought for farmers' interests around the cabinet table. But he didn't succeed. When Finance Minister Thomas White's 1919 Budget again fell short of farmers' expectations, Crerar quit the cabinet.

Farmers' parties were governing Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta. While Crerar was reluctant to support these political movements--he was a pragmatist and recognized the appeal of these policies to the soft Liberal vote--his party wasn't listening to farmers. Crerar worked to form a national farmers' party, the Progressives, and became its leader in 1920.

In the 1921 election, Crerar was re-elected as an MP, and the Progressives won 65 seats in Ontario and the West. Crerar refused opposition leader status, hoping instead for the accommodation of farmers' policies within the government agenda. The strategy didn't work, and his party became divided over policy. Frustrated, Crerar resigned as party leader in 1922. He sat as an MP until the end of the 14th parliament but didn't run in the general election of 1925.

After a brief absence from politics, Crerar re-emerged as a Liberal cabinet minister under King in 1929. He served as minister of railways and canals from December 1929 until August 1930 and was re-elected as an MP in a 1930 by-election for Brandon. Later in 1930, he was defeated in the general election that removed Mackenzie King's Liberals from power. In 1935, Crerar became MP for Churchill and returned to cabinet as minister of mines, of immigration and colonization, and of the interior and as superintendent-general of Indian affairs (October 1935 to November 1936). His appointment was later simplified to minister of mines and resources (December 1936 to April 1945). As the cabinet minister responsible for natural resources, Crerar was an important decision-maker in King's cabinet during the Second World War.

Crerar was re-elected as MP for Churchill in 1940 and sat in the House of Commons until the dissolution of 19th parliament in April 1945. King called him to the Senate, where he served until his resignation in May 1966. Crerar died in 1975.

Industry Issues

Prompted by the soaring world demand for Canadian wheat at a time of declining prairie yields, the government closed the Winnipeg Grain Exchange in 1917 and created a single wheat board to market the Canadian product. Wheat prices soared to $3.15 per bushel, offering farmers relative prosperity despite the psychological strain of watching their sons go to war. After the 1919 harvest, the wheat board was dissolved and free enterprise returned to prairie farming.

Departmental Developments

Matters unrelated to agriculture were removed from the department's jurisdiction in 1917: exhibitions, patents, copyrights, trademarks, public health and quarantines were transferred to the Department of Immigration and Colonization.

Oleomargarine was prohibited as a butter substitute under the Dairy Industry Act (1903). But in 1917, the Canada Food Board passed an order permitting the use of oleomargarine under the provisions of the War Measures Act. The department supervised its manufacture and sale.

Near the end of the war, livestock feed contaminants became an issue--mill feeds were being mixed with harmful weed seeds. In 1918, the Seed Branch began microscopic studies of allegedly contaminated feeds. These investigations placed pressure on feed suppliers to improve the overall quality and accuracy of labelling on feeds offered for sale in Canada.

At the end of the war, Canadian breeders had difficulty shipping cattle to the United States because of Canada's inadequate tuberculosis control record. The department responded with regulations providing for accredited tuberculosis-free herds in September 1919.

Worth Noting

• Crerar is the only minister to have resigned over farmers' issues.
• In 1974, Crerar became the first politician recognized as a companion of the Order of Canada.