1921 Ontario prohibition referendum

Last updated

1921 Ontario prohibition referendum
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg
April 18, 1921

Shall the importation and the bringing of intoxicating liquors into the province be forbidden?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes540,77359.12%
Light brown x.svgNo373,93840.88%
Total votes914,711100.00%

A referendum was held in Ontario, Canada on April 18, 1921, concerning a ban on the importation of alcoholic beverages into the province. The referendum passed, and an importation ban was implemented.

Contents

Referendum question

Shall the importation and the bringing of intoxicating liquors into the province be forbidden? [1]

History

Though the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had ruled in 1896 that provinces do not have the authority to prohibit the importation of alcohol, the Canada Temperance Act allowed the federal government to enact a prohibition if a majority was reached in a referendum. Similar referendums had previously been undertaken in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia in 1920, and in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in 1921. [2]

Initially, the Ontario referendum was to be held on the same day as those in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Concerns about the voter list eventually led to its rescheduling. [3]

Results

Response# of votes polled% of votes polled [2]
Yes540,77359.1
No373,93840.9
Total914,711100.0

Total prohibition, or "bone-dry" prohibition, was brought into effect in Ontario. Though the provincial government was bound by the results, the enactment of an importation ban would be delayed. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

National referendums are seldom used in Canada. The first two referendums in 1898 and 1942 saw voters in Quebec and the remainder of Canada take dramatically-opposing stands, and the third in 1992 saw most of the voters take a stand dramatically opposed to that of the politicians in power.

The Progressive Party of Canada, formally the National Progressive Party, was a federal-level political party in Canada in the 1920s until 1930. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces, and it spawned the Progressive Party of Saskatchewan, and the Progressive Party of Manitoba, which formed the government of that province. The Progressive Party was part of the farmers' political movement that included federal and provincial Progressive and United Farmers' parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender rights in Canada</span> Rights of transgender individuals in Canada

Transgender rights in Canada, including procedures for changing legal gender and protections from discrimination, vary among provinces and territories, due to Canada's nature as a federal state. According to the 2021 Canadian census, 59,460 Canadians identify as transgender. Canada was ranked third in Asher & Lyric's Global Trans Rights Index in 2023.

Canadian Senate divisions refers to two aspects of the Senate of Canada. First, it refers to the division of Canada into four regional Senate divisions of 24 senators each, as set out in section 22 of the Constitution Act, 1867. The four regions are the Western Provinces, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. These regions are intended to serve the Senate's purpose of providing regional representation in the Parliament of Canada, in contrast to the popular representation that the House of Commons is intended to provide. While not within any of the original four Senate divisions, Senate seats are also allocated to Newfoundland and Labrador and the three territories. The four divisions can be expanded when the need arises to have an extra two senators appointed to each regional division.

The orders, decorations, and medals of the Canadian provinces, in which each province of Canada has devised a system of orders and other awards to honour residents for actions or deeds that benefit their local community or province, are in turn subsumed within the Canadian honours system. Each province sets its own rules and criteria for eligibility and also for how each award is presented. Most of the awards allow for the recipients to wear their awards in public, and most grant the recipients the use of post-nominal letters after their names. Not all of the awards listed below are part of the Canadian honours system, thus some of them may not be worn or court mounted with awards that are part of the Canadian honours system.

The Ontario Temperance Act was a law passed in 1916 that led to the prohibition of alcohol in Ontario, Canada. When the Act was first enacted, the sale of alcohol was prohibited, but liquor could still be manufactured in the province or imported. Strong support for prohibition came from religious elements of society such as the Ontario Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which sought to eliminate what it considered the societal ills and vices associated with liquor consumption, including violent behaviour and familial abuse. Historically, prohibition advocates in Ontario drew inspiration from the temperance movements in Britain and the United States. The Act was repealed in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lieutenant Governor (Canada)</span> Viceroy of a Canadian province

In Canada, a lieutenant governor is the representative of the King of Canada in the government of each province. The Governor General of Canada appoints the lieutenant governors on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada to carry out most of the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties for an unfixed period of time—known as serving "His Excellency’s pleasure"—though five years is the normal convention. Similar positions in Canada's three territories are termed "Commissioners" and are representatives of the federal government, not the monarch directly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prohibition in Canada</span> Historic alcohol ban in Canada

Prohibition in Canada was a ban on alcoholic beverages that arose in various stages, from local municipal bans in the late 19th century, to provincial bans in the early 20th century, and national prohibition from 1918 to 1920. The relatively large and powerful beer and alcohol manufacturing sector, and the huge working class that purchased their products, failed to convince any of the governments to reverse their stance on prohibition. Most provinces repealed their bans in the 1920s, though alcohol was illegal in Prince Edward Island from 1901 to 1948. By comparison, Ontario's temperance act was in effect from 1916 to 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarchy in the Canadian provinces</span> Overview about the presence of monarchy in the Canadian provinces

The monarchy of Canada forms the core of each Canadian provincial jurisdiction's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government in each province. The monarchy has been headed since September 8, 2022 by King Charles III who as sovereign is shared equally with both the Commonwealth realms and the Canadian federal entity. He, his consort, and other members of the Canadian royal family undertake various public and private functions across the country. He is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.

A plebiscite on the legality of alcoholic beverages was held in Ontario, Canada on January 1, 1894. Per the terms of the Prohibition Plebiscite Act passed in 1893, a plebiscite was held on the issue of prohibition in conjunction with the 1894 municipal elections. Though a majority of voters indicated support for prohibition, the results were non-binding and prohibition would not occur in Ontario until 1916.

A referendum on the legality of alcoholic beverages was held in Ontario, Canada on December 4, 1902. Though 65 percent of voters indicated support for prohibition, a majority of half of the number of voters in the 1898 election did not support the motion, and prohibition was not introduced.

A referendum was held in Ontario, Canada on October 20, 1919 on the legality of alcoholic beverages and the maintaining of prohibition. Prohibition had been passed by the provincial government in 1916 under the Ontario Temperance Act, though a clause required a referendum to be held in 1919 on whether the Act should be repealed and the previous licensing laws subsequently revived. A subsequent Act in 1919 provided three further questions for consideration, and subsequent implementation on approval. A majority voted against all four questions, and prohibition was maintained.

A referendum was held on October 23, 1924 on the repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act. The referendum was brought about by a clause in the Act, which permitted the possible repeal of prohibition by a majority vote. The referendum upheld prohibition, albeit by the narrowest majority of all of Ontario's prohibition referendums; in 1927, prohibition would be repealed with the passing of the Liquor Licence Act.

Crown corporations in Canada are government organizations with a mixture of commercial and public-policy objectives. They are directly and wholly owned by the Crown.

Canadian liquor plebiscites, held in 1920 under the Canada Temperance Act and the Dominion Elections Act, were referendums on the strengthening of the Prohibition measures in effect in several provinces of Canada. Voters were asked if they supported banning of importation of liquor across provincial boundaries. The referendums were held on July 10, 1920, in New Brunswick; on October 20 in British Columbia; and on October 25 in Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan.

In most provinces of Canada, the third Monday in February is observed as a regional statutory holiday, typically known in general as Family Day —though some provinces use their own names, as they celebrate the day for different reasons. The third Monday of February is observed as "Family Day" in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia (BC), New Brunswick, Ontario, and Saskatchewan; as Louis Riel Day in Manitoba; as Nova Scotia Heritage Day in Nova Scotia; and as Islander Day in Prince Edward Island.

The 1915 Alberta liquor plebiscite was the first plebiscite to ask voters in Alberta whether the province should implement prohibition by ratifying the proposed Liquor Act. The plebiscite was the culmination of years of lobbying by the province's temperance movements and agricultural groups, and was proposed through the recently implemented form of direct democracy, the Direct Legislation Act. Alberta voters approved the plebiscite on prohibition, which was implemented eleven months after the vote. The June 21, 1915 plebiscite was the first of three province-wide plebiscites held in a seven-year period related to liquor in Alberta.

In Canada, daylight saving time (DST) is observed in nine of the country's ten provinces and two of its three territories—though with exceptions in parts of several provinces and Nunavut.

The 1966 Macdonald Brier the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held March 7 to 11, 1966 at the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the Brier the year before broke attendance records, the 1966 edition only drew 11,905 fans. At the time, only the 1947 Brier drew fewer fans.

References

Bibliography

  • Johnston, Larry; Sage, Rick (2007). "Referendums in Ontario: An Historical Summary" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2007.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)