William John Grummett (January 8, 1891 – 1967) was a Canadian politician.[1] He represented the electoral district of Cochrane South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1943 to 1955 as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).

Bill Grummett
Ontario MPP
In office
1943–1955
Preceded byCharles Vincent Gallagher
Succeeded byWilf Spooner
ConstituencyCochrane South
Personal details
Born(1891-01-08)January 8, 1891
Osprey Township, Ontario
DiedJuly 1, 1967(1967-07-01) (aged 76)
Orangeville, Ontario
Political partyOntario CCF
SpouseMarie
Children5
OccupationLawyer

Background

edit

The son of a farmer in Maxwell, Ontario, just south of Collingwood, Grummett was the first lawyer in Iroquois Falls-Ansonville, having attended law school in Toronto, Ontario. He and his wife Marie raised their five children in Iroquois Falls, Ontario.

He had fought in World War I as an officer in the British Army where he saw action in the Mesopotamian campaign. While there, he contracted malaria which affected him for the rest of his life. He died in 1967.

Politics

edit

In the 1943 provincial election he ran as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate in the riding of Cochrane South. he defeated Liberal candidate J. Emile Brunette by 5066 votes.[2] He was the only CCF MPP to survive both the 1945 and the 1951 provincial elections, which saw most CCFers defeated, including party leader Ted Jolliffe.

He was the CCF's House Leader and led the two person caucus in the legislature from 1951, following Jolliffe's defeat, until new leader Donald C. Macdonald entered the legislature in the 1955.[3]

Grummett was defeated in the 1955 general election by Ontario Progressive Conservative Party candidate Wilf Spooner, who was mayor of Timmins, Ontario, when the Liberals failed to field a candidate allowing "old party votes" to coalesce around Spooner.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ Normandin, Pierre G.; Normandin, A. Léopold (25 January 1965). "Guide Parlementaire Canadien". P.G. Normandin – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Canadian Press (August 5, 1943). "Ontario Election Results". The Gazette. Montreal. p. 12.
  3. ^ Macdonald, Donald C. (1998). The Happy Warrior: Political Memoirs. Dundurn Press Ltd. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-55002-307-7.
  4. ^ Macdonald, Donald C. (1998). The Happy Warrior: Political Memoirs. Dundurn Press Ltd. pp. 60, 82. ISBN 978-1-55002-307-7.
edit