Charles Avery Dunning


Charles Avery Dunning was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, businessman, and politician, both provincially and federally.
A Liberal, Dunning led his government in one general election, in 1925, winning a majority government. He was the third of six Liberal premiers to date. He resigned as Premier in 1926 to enter federal politics and was succeeded by James Gardiner. He served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
After leaving politics, Dunning served for many years as the Chancellor of Queen's University at Kingston.

Early life

Known throughout his life as "Charlie", Dunning was born in Croft, Leicestershire, England. As a teenager, he originally worked in an iron foundry in England, but in 1902, at age 16, he followed a friend's advice and travelled to Canada to work as a farm hand.
Penniless when he arrived, within a year Dunning filed for his own homestead under the Dominion Lands Act in the Beaver Dale district, west of Yorkton. Satisfied that a permanent move to Canada made sense, he convinced the remainder of his family to come to Saskatchewan, operating a farm in partnership with his father. He eventually married Ada Rowlatt from Saskatchewan, with whom he had two children.

Business career in Saskatchewan

During his career as a farmer, Dunning was involved in the local of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association, an early proponent of a farmer-owned cooperative grain marketing system. In 1910, he attended the 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.
In 1919, Dunning prepared a report on the grain elevator system, which led to the incorporation of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company by the Saskatchewan government. The SCEC was a farmers' cooperative, financed in part by shares purchased by farmers at $7.50 per share, and in part by a loan guarantee from the provincial government. A co-operative marketing system required physical assets. 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. Under Dunning's management, the SCEC had built 230 elevators and had handled over 28 million bushels of grains.
As manager, Dunning was instrumental in developing a provincial hail insurance scheme, which survives today as Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance. He also sat on two royal commissions, the Grain Market Commission and the Agricultural Credit Commission. He became a wealthy man, with a reputation for integrity.

Provincial politics: 1916 – 1926

MLA and Cabinet Minister: 1916 – 1922

Dunning's interests turned to politics. The Liberal government of Walter Scott, Saskatchewan's first premier, was tainted with allegations of corruption. Scott resigned, and an outsider to provincial politics, William Melville Martin, succeeded him as Liberal leader and premier, with a mandate to clean up the government. Martin recruited Dunning to the new Liberal government. In October 1916, Martin brought Dunning into Cabinet, appointing him as Provincial Treasurer. Dunning then stood for election to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in a by-election held in the Kinistino constituency in November 1916. Unopposed, he was acclaimed a Member of the Legislative Assembly. Dunning held the position of Provincial Treasurer continuously for his ten years as an MLA.
Traditional politics were being challenged, as farmer movements had become politically active, creating new political parties throughout Canada. Dunning's political astuteness, and his strong background in farmer organisations, were significant factors in the Saskatchewan Liberal Party retaining power. During his time in provincial politics, Dunning persuaded the farmer's movement in Saskatchewan to support the provincial Liberals, and eventually the federal Liberal party as well, at a time when farmers elsewhere switched their support to the Progressive Party of Canada and the United Farmers.
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, Dunning held a series of Cabinet posts. In addition to his ten years as Provincial Treasurer, he also was appointed Provincial Secretary, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Minister of Railways, and Minister of Telephones.

Premier of Saskatchewan: 1922 – 1926

The continued political tensions between the federal Liberal Party and the farmer-influenced Progressives led to Dunning becoming Premier of Saskatchewan in 1922, at age 36.
The federal Liberals were increasingly unpopular in Saskatchewan, which contributed to the rise of the Progressives. The provincial Liberals continued to advance their position as a farmers' party, to the point that in 1921, Premier Martin severed the organizational ties between the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and the federal Liberal Party. He also recruited another popular farm leader, John Archibald Maharg. Like Dunning, Maharg had ties to the farmer co-operative movement, being the president of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association and the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company. Maharg agreed to support the Martin government, although he stood for election as an independent member, not as a Liberal. By maintaining a close connection to the farmers with the support of Dunning and Maharg, the Martin government was re-elected in the 1921 provincial election with a substantial majority, although some Progressive candidates were also elected, forming the official opposition. Martin kept Dunning as Provincial Treasurer, and appointed Maharg as Minister of Agriculture.
The situation changed with the federal election late in 1921. The federal Progressives continued to oppose the unpopular federal Liberals. Premier Martin intervened in the election at the local level in Saskatchewan, campaigning for Liberal candidates, including the Liberal candidate in Regina. His support for the federal Liberals angered the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association, who began to discuss the possibility of establishing a separate farmer party. Maharg accused Martin of acting in bad faith, and resigned from Cabinet. He crossed the floor and eventually became the leader of the opposition.
The contretemps between Martin and Maharg had the potential to split the provincial Liberal party. A few months after the federal election, Martin resigned as premier and as leader of the Liberal party. The Liberals chose Dunning as the new party leader, and he then became premier of Saskatchewan. His immediate task as premier was to repair relations with the farm movement. He met with representatives of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association, to reassure them that he still supported the farm movement, rather than the Liberal government in Ottawa, and that the provincial Liberals were in fact a farmer party. He also requested copies of resolutions from the SGGA annual convention, presumably to assist in setting government policy. Dunning's overtures were successful, and the SSGA pulled back from suggestions that they should use their organisational strength to establish a separate farmer party.
Dunning further established the position of the Liberal government in a series of by-elections, most of which resulted in Liberal candidates being elected. By the time of the next general election in 1925, Dunning had healed the rift with the farmers. The Liberals were re-elected with a substantial majority, and the Progressives were unable to build on their previous success in the 1922 election.
The main issue the Dunning government faced was the falling price of wheat, which resulted from a post-war depression. His government supported the re-establishment of the Canadian Wheat Board by the federal government. The Dunning government ended prohibition after a 1924 plebiscite, but sought to continue regulation through government-owned and operated liquor stores.
Dunning also supported efforts towards voluntary pooling of farm products, and the nascent Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. His last major policy step as premier was to arrange for the enactment of legislation to authorise the sale of the Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator Company to the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, over the objections of Maharg, who was still on the board of the SCEC. The Wheat Pool bought the SCEC for $11 million. Farmers who bought shares in the SCEC for $7.50 in 1911 when Dunning was general manager would receive $155.84 per share in 1926.

Federal politics: 1926 – 1930

Potential Liberal leader

Western farmers had traditionally been a source of support for the federal Liberals, but in the 1921 federal election many farmers had instead supported the Progressive party. The new leader of the federal Liberals, William Lyon Mackenzie King, had managed to defeat the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, but only won a minority government. King was able to stay in power only by support from the Progressives. King was determined to rebuild the Liberals' farm support, particularly in western Canada.
In an effort to win back farmers, Mackenzie King began to court Dunning with his strong farm roots, encouraging him to enter federal politics. Campaigning in Saskatchewan at one point, with Dunning also on the speakers' platform, King spontaneously stated to the audience that he would like to see Dunning in the federal Cabinet. In 1926, Dunning accepted the invitation. Resigning as premier and leaving provincial politics, he was elected to the federal riding of Regina by acclamation in a by-election held in March, 1926, as a member of the federal Liberals.
Even though King brought Dunning to Ottawa, there was a risk for King, namely that Dunning could displace King as the leader of the Liberals. In the 1925 election, the Liberals had actually come in second in seats in the House of Commons, behind the Conservatives, and only held onto power through another minority government with Progressive support. King had also been personally defeated in his own riding in Ontario. He was only able to re-enter the Commons when the Liberal member for Prince Albert, Saskatchewan resigned his seat. King was elected in the Prince Albert by-election. King was able to stay in office as prime minister, but his position as party leader was not strong.
In light of the 1925 election results and King's personal defeat, some of the power brokers in the Liberal party began to consider whether Dunning would make a better leader than King. Quiet behind-the-scenes preparations started to be made, in case King stumbled badly and it was necessary to install Dunning as leader.
By June, 1926, King was no longer able to govern. His minority government, elected only half a year earlier in the 1925 election, depended on support from the Progressives, but a political scandal in the Customs department triggered the withdrawal of Progressive support. Dunning, now in the House of Commons, vigorously defended the Liberal government, providing strong support for King, but knowing that King's defeat might well make him Liberal leader. Facing a vote of censure in the Commons which, if passed, would likely bring down his government, on June 28, 1926, King requested that the Governor General, Viscount Byng of Vimy, dissolve Parliament and call a general election. Byng refused, relying on the reserve power invested in him by the Imperial government. King immediately resigned, and Byng called on Meighen, now the Leader of the Opposition, to form a government.
The Liberals and Dunning were now in opposition. King's status as party leader was even more in doubt. The movement among leading Liberals to draft Dunning as a replacement as party leader grew stronger, now almost out in the open.
However, the party standings in the House of Commons were so close that Meighen was unable to put together a stable government. Appointed as prime minister on June 28, 1926, Meighen lost a vote of confidence in the Commons by one vote only a few days later, at 2 a.m. on July 2, 1926. Meighen in turn requested that the Governor General dissolve Parliament. This time Byng granted the dissolution, with the general election set for September.
King campaigned on the basis that Byng's refusal to grant him a dissolution, and then in turn granting a dissolution to his political opponent, was unwarranted Imperial interference in Canadian affairs. The controversy, known as the King-Byng Affair, was a winning platform for King and the Liberals. They were returned to power, although still with a minority government.
Doubts about King's status as party leader ended. Dunning was re-elected to his Regina seat by 900 votes and King again appointed him to Cabinet, no longer viewing him as a threat.