John Frederick Johnston

The Honourable
John Frederick Johnston
Senator for Saskatchewan
In office
October 5, 1943 – May 9, 1948
Appointed by William Lyon Mackenzie King
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Lake Centre
In office
October 14, 1935 – March 26. 1940
Preceded by Riding established
Succeeded by John George Diefenbaker
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Long Lake
In office
October 29, 1925 – July 28, 1930
Preceded by Riding established
Succeeded by Walter Davy Cowan
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Last Mountain
In office
December 17, 1917 – October 29, 1925
Preceded by Riding established
Succeeded by William Russell Fansher
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons and Chair of the Committees of the Whole House of Commons
In office
December 14, 1926 – May 30, 1930
Preceded by William Duff
Succeeded by Armand Lavergne
Personal details
Born (1876-07-16)July 16, 1876
Bogarttown, Ontario
Died May 9, 1948(1948-05-09) (aged 71)
Political party Liberal Party of Canada
Other political
affiliations		 Progressive Party of Canada
Liberal-Unionist
Occupation Businessman, farmer, rancher

John Frederick "Fred" Johnston (July 16, 1876 – May 9, 1948) was a Saskatchewan politician.

Johnston was born to a wealthy family in Bogarttown, Ontario that owned lumber and flour mills in Simcoe County.[1]

He moved to Saskatchewan in 1905 and ultimately settled on a farm near Bladworth, Saskatchewan. In addition to his farm, he owned a lumberyard and hardware store in town and developed a string of general stores in the region.[1]

He was elected by acclamation to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1917 wartime election as a Liberal-Unionist representing Last Mountain. The Liberal Party had split over the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and Johnston was one of the Liberals who broke with Sir Wilfrid Laurier in order to support the pro-conscription Union Government formed by Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden.[1]

During the parliament, Johnston broke with both the government and the Liberals to support the new agrarian based Progressive Party formed by Thomas Crerar. He won the Progressive Party nomination in his riding and was re-elected in the 1921 federal election as a Progressive MP and became the party's chief whip in the Canadian House of Commons.[1]

Johnston supported co-operation between the Progressives and the Liberals. He was re-electedas a Progressive MP, this time in the riding of Long Lake in the 1925 federal election.[2] The Liberals lost seats in the election but stayed in power leading a minority government. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King convinced Johnston to cross the floor and join the Liberals in early 1926 in an attempt to buttress his government's support.[2] He was re-elected as a Liberal in the 1926 federal election and, in December 1926, became Deputy Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.[1][2]

Johnston was defeated in the 1930 federal election by his Conservative opponent and returned to the farm. He was again elected to parliament in the 1935 federal election, this time in the riding of Lake Centre but was defeated in the 1940 federal election by John George Diefenbaker of the Tories.[1]

Johnston was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Mackenzie King in 1943 and sat in the upper house until his death in 1948.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John Frederick Johnston 1876-1948, Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
  2. 1 2 3 "Parliamentary biography". .parl.gc.ca. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
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