He was born in Guelph, Canada West, the son of Donald Guthrie, and studied there and at Osgoode Hall, becoming a barrister. Guthrie was named a King's Counsel in 1902. He married Maude Henrietta, the daughter of Guelph businessman Thomas H. Scarff.
Guthie sought the party leadership at the leadership convention that the party held in 1927, but was defeated by R.B. Bennett. John Diefenbaker was a delegate to that convention and he wrote in his memoirs that Guthrie's candidacy was hurt when the former Liberal absent-mindedly declared in his speech to delegates that the Conservative meeting was the "greatest Liberal convention in history".
As Minister of Justice and Attorney General in Bennett's Government
Guthrie as Leader of the Opposition, 1927
Bennett led the Conservatives to victory in the 1930 election, and Guthrie was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General. In 1931, he led the Canadian delegation to the League of Nations. In 1933, he introduced legislation making it illegal to carry a concealed weapon without authorization. In 1935, he clashed with opposition Member of ParliamentAgnes Macphail who demanded an inquiry into inhumane conditions in Canada's prisons such as the whipping of prisoners.
Guthrie considered recommendations from Western Canadian legal commentators to make the Supreme Court of Canada a traveling circuit court to ease western skepticism. He rejected the proposal due to the practicality, British tradition of the appeal court remaining stationary, and difficulties the justices would experience in traveling and writing decisions.[2]
Guthrie and communism
As the Great Depression worsened and millions were unemployed, the government became increasingly concerned about political instability and the growth of radical movements. Guthrie's department was responsible for the persecution of the Communist Party of Canada, and the arrest and incarceration of Communists, including leader Tim Buck, for sedition.
In 1933, Tim Buck was shot at by soldiers in an apparent assassination attempt while he was in his cell during a prison riot. Guthrie was forced to admit that the attack was deliberate, but claimed the intent was only to frighten him; however, the public outcry at this incident lead to Buck being released.
On to Ottawa Trek
In 1935, unemployed workers in British Columbia deserted the remote relief camps established by the Bennett government, and began the "On to Ottawa Trek". Thousands of unemployed workers hopped on freight trains heading east intending to converge in Ottawa and press their demands on the government. Bennett's cabinet saw this as an insurrectionary movement and panicked. In the House of Commons, Guthrie charged that the protesters "were a distinct menace to the peace, order and good government of Canada."
As the protesters entered Saskatchewan, Guthrie had the Trek banned, over the objections of Saskatchewan PremierJames G. Gardiner. He and Bennett ordered the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to use tear gas and revolvers to break up the Trek when it entered Regina. The city was but under siege with hundreds of police officers moved in blocking all exits from the city. On July 1, 1935, the police attacked a meeting attended by 3,000 people resulting in one death, dozens of injuries and national outrage.
Retirement and later life
Guthrie declined to contest the 1935 election that routed Bennett's government, preferring to retiring from from politics at the age of 69. He died four years later on 3 November 1939 at the age of 73.
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