'Honest Enough to Be Bold' : The Life and Times of Sir James Pliny Whitney

James Pliny Whitney marked the end of an era of Liberal rule in Ontario that had lasted for over three decades, and introduced a new 'progressive' brand of conservatism as premier from 1905 to 1914. As this lively biography demonstrates, Whitney was a gruff and forceful leader.

On a promise of 'Clean, Uncorrupt, and Incorruptible Government,' James Pliny Whitney marked the end of an era of Liberal rule that had lasted for over three decades, and introduced to the province a new, 'progressive' brand of conservatism.

As this lively biography demonstrates, Whitney was a gruff and forceful leader. He had a keen understanding of the social and technological forces that were changing Ontario so dramatically in the early twentieth century; he also understood, better than the Liberals, the political implications of those forces. The policies of his government extended to hydroelectric power, bilingual schools, northern development, automobile regulation, temperance (he dealt with the advocates of prohibition 'through gritted teeth'), imperial unity, housing, workmen's compensation, and the suffrage movement. (In a lapse from progressiveness, he argued that women should not be exposed to 'the unlovely influence of party politics.') He had a lasting influence on higher education in the province through the establishment of a Board of Governors for the University of Toronto, then unmistakably the provincial university of Ontario, and the provision of tenure for its full professors.

Whitney liked to describe himself as 'bold enough to be honest ... honest enough to be bold.' Humphries concludes that as premier from 1905 to 1914 Whitney lived up to his self-description. The boldness of his legislative programs recognized the evolution of a new industrial society and paved the way for government to intervene in economic and social affairs. The success of his progressive conservatism laid the foundation for decades of Tory success in Ontario.

Contents 9 The Ontario Historical Studies Series 11 Preface 13 1. 'I Come from Liberal (Baldwin) Stock': 1843 29 2. Dismounting from 'the Protestant Horse': 1890–8 49 3. 'Ridding the Province of the Worst Government': 1898–1905 81 4. 'A New Order': 1905 125 5. 'Bold Enough to Be Honest': 1906 151 6. 'Honest Enough to Be Bold': 1906 164 7. 'Practically Unanimous Approval by the People': 1907– 187 8. A Toast to Empire– 'The Greatest Secular Influence for Good': 1909–11 208 9. Keeping an Even Keel: 1912–14 226 10. Conclusion: 'The Propriety of It' 243 Notes 251 Bibliography 297 Index 299