1. John Bracken was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
32 Facts About John Bracken
1. 2.
John Bracken oversaw the creation of a universal pension, the provincial income tax, and reductions in spending on health, education and welfare as well as the replacement of the first past the post voting system with alternative voting.
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John Bracken pursued development by promoting staple industries such as mining, timber and fishing.
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John Bracken led the Liberal-Progressive Party to consecutive victories in elections in 1932,1936 and 1941, winning majority governments in all but the 1936 election.
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John Bracken resigned as leader of the party in 1948 and was succeeded by George A Drew.
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John Bracken was born in Ellisville, Ontario, the son of Ephriam Michael John Bracken and Alberta Gilbert.
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John Bracken was raised on a large dairy farm and began managing it as a teenager.
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John Bracken and was educated at Brockville Collegiate Institute and the Ontario Agricultural College.
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John Bracken did a year of postgraduate work at the University of Illinois.
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Not long after graduating from the Ontario Agricultural College, John Bracken moved to Manitoba, where he worked for the Dominion Seed Branch.
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When Saskatchewan became a province in 1905, John Bracken became its first inspector of institutes and fairs.
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John Bracken spent two years as the province's livestock commissioner.
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John Bracken was chosen to be one of the first professors of the University of Saskatchewan's agricultural college, which opened in 1910.
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John Bracken was head coach of the school's football team in 1915 and 1917.
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John Bracken's selection was a surprise, as he had never sought public office and had not been identified with the party prior to becoming its leader.
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John Bracken was a political outsider and gave the UFM the professional grounding it needed.
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The UFM governed as the Progressive Party of Manitoba, and John Bracken served as Manitoba's premier for over 20 years.
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John Bracken lowered expenditures in health, education, and welfare but introduced a pension for all citizens over seventy years old in 1928.
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John Bracken worked to promote staple industries such as mining, timber cutting, and fishing, while promoting hydroelectric power.
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John Bracken successfully had the Hudson Bay Railway create a branch line to Flin Flon, resulting in the opening of a copper and zinc mine there in 1926.
21.
John Bracken was a vocal proponent of the provincial control of natural resources and influenced Mackenzie King's 1930 decision to give Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan control over crown lands.
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In keeping with the UFM's "anti-party" philosophy, John Bracken favoured non-partisan government.
23.
In 1940, John Bracken formed a wartime coalition government that included the Conservative, Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and Social Credit parties.
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When John Bracken left provincial politics in 1943, there were only 5 opposition Members of the Legislative Assembly in a 57-member parliament.
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John Bracken's coalition remained intact until 1950 although the CCF left in 1943.
26.
John Bracken agreed to seek the party's leadership on the condition that it change its name to the Progressive Conservative Party.
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John Bracken was elected leader at the party's 1942 leadership convention.
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John Bracken did not seek a seat in the House of Commons until the 1945 Canadian election.
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John Bracken became Leader of the Opposition and remained leader of the Tories until he was pushed to resign in favour of Drew in 1948.
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John Bracken's riding was merged into the seat of Brandon before the 1949 federal election.
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John Bracken was soundly defeated by Liberal incumbent James Matthews, and did not return to political life thereafter.
32.
John Bracken died on March 18,1969, and is buried in Rideauvale Cemetery at Kars, Ontario.