View source for Ernest C. Drury

{{Short description|Premier of Ontario}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Ernest Charles Drury
| image         = EC Drury Photo B (HS85-10-36997).jpg
| caption       = Drury in 1920
| order1        = 8th [[Premier of Ontario]]
| term_start1   = November 14, 1919
| term_end1     = July 16, 1923
| predecessor1  = [[William Hearst (politician)|William Hearst]]
| successor1    = [[Howard Ferguson|George Howard Ferguson]]
| monarch1      = [[George V]]
| lieutenant_governor1 = [[John Strathearn Hendrie]]<br />[[Lionel Herbert Clarke]]<br />[[Henry Cockshutt]]
| office2       = [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Ontario MPP]]
| term_start2   = February 16, 1920
| term_end2     = May 10, 1923
| predecessor2  = [[John Featherstone Ford]]
| successor2    = [[George Hillmer]]
| constituency2 = [[Halton (provincial electoral district)|Halton]]
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1878|1|22}}
| birth_place   = [[Crown Hill, Ontario]]
| death_date    ={{nowrap|{{death date and age|1968|2|17|1878|1|22}}}}
| death_place   = [[Barrie, Ontario]]
| restingplace  = Holy Cross St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church (formerly St. James Anglican Church), [[Springwater, Ontario]]
| party         = [[United Farmers of Ontario]]
| spouse        = Ella Partridge
| alma_mater    = [[Ontario Agricultural College]]
|}}
'''Ernest Charles Drury''' (January 22, 1878 – February 17, 1968) was a farmer, politician and writer who served as the eighth [[premier of Ontario]], from 1919 to 1923 as the head of a [[United Farmers of Ontario]]–[[Labour candidates and parties in Canada|Labour]] [[coalition government]].

Drury was the first premier of Ontario to have been born in the province after [[Canadian Confederation|confederation]].

==Family==
Drury was the grandson of Richard Drury, who arrived in [[Crown Hill, Ontario]], from [[Kenilworth]], Warwickshire, England, in 1819.

His father, [[Charles Alfred Drury]], continued the family farm and was a forward-looking farmer, who used new techniques and technologies. In 1882, he was president of the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario. He also served as [[reeve (Canada)|reeve]] of [[Oro-Medonte, Ontario|Oro Township]], in Simcoe County, for 13 years and was elected to the [[Ontario Legislature]] as an [[Ontario Liberal Party]] member. He served from 1882 to 1890, the last two years as Ontario's first [[Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Agriculture]].<ref>[http://www.barrieadvance.com/barrieadvance/article/109205 "E.C. Drury was his father's son"], ''Barrie Advance'', June 30, 2008 {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120720072957/http://www.barrieadvance.com/barrieadvance/article/109205 |date=July 20, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Alfred Drury, MPP |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=1089 |website=ontla.on.ca |publisher=[[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] |access-date=December 17, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205044443/http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=1089 |archive-date=February 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=An Act respecting the Department of Agriculture and other Industries |abbr=S.O. |year=1888 |chapter=8 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1888onta#page/18/mode/2up}}</ref>

==Early career==
Drury was an Opposition candidate in [[Simcoe North (federal electoral district)|Simcoe North]] in the [[1917 Canadian federal election|1917 wartime election]], which was held during the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]], but was defeated by the Government candidate. [[Conscription Crisis of 1917|Conscription]] was the over-riding issue in this election; Drury believed that conscription was a "necessary evil<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 48-49. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>," and always insisted that if men be drafted, so too should wealth be conscripted through heavier taxation.

==Premier of Ontario==

[[File:Black Canadians at Queens Park.jpg|thumb|left|A group of mostly [[Black Canadians]] poses with Premier Drury and Sir [[Henry Pellatt]] on the steps of the [[Ontario Legislative Building]] in 1920.]]
{{see also|Drury Ministry}}
Drury was a co-founder of the UFO in 1913 but did not run in the [[1919 Ontario general election|1919 election]], which returned farmer candidates as the largest bloc in the provincial [[legislature]]. Not having a leader, the UFO [[Member of the Legislative Assembly|Members of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLAs)  asked Drury to lead them and take the position of Premier. The UFOs 49 MLAs joined with 11 Labour members to form a coalition government. It was the first of a wave of [[Progressive Party of Canada|United Farmers]] governments that took power in several provinces and that founded the [[Progressive Party of Canada]]. 

Drury was elected to the Legislative Assembly in [[Halton (provincial electoral district)|Halton]] in a 1920 by-election, after John Featherstone Ford, the sitting UFO MLA, had stepped aside. Drury faced Edward Stephenson of the [[Soldier (party)|Soldier Party]] (with both Liberals and Conservatives declining to contest the seat) and emerged victorious with 67.7% of the vote. Stephenson was critical of Drury's qualified support of conscription in 1917, but Drury acquitted himself well before the voters.<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 79-80. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref> 

===Achievements===
[[File:Ernest Drury.jpg|thumb|Drury in 1923]]
The Drury government had a significant impact on the Province:

* It introduced allowances for widows and children,<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Mother's Allowances Act |abbr=S.O. |year=1920 |chapter=89 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1920onta#page/384/mode/2up}}</ref> a [[minimum wage]] for women,<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Minimum Wage Act |abbr=S.O. |year=1920 |chapter=87 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1920onta#page/378/mode/2up}}</ref> a mandatory weekly day of rest,<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The One Day's Rest in Seven Act, 1922 |abbr=S.O. |year=1922 |chapter=93 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/702/mode/2up}}</ref> broadened [[workmen's compensation]] benefits<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1920 |abbr=S.O. |year=1920 |chapter=43 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1920onta#page/216/mode/2up}}</ref> improved the support mechanisms for parents<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Parents Maintenance Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=52 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/178/mode/2up}}</ref> and children born [[out of wedlock]],<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Legitimation Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=53 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/180/mode/2up}} and {{Cite canlaw |short title=The Children of Unmarried Parents Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=54 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/182/mode/2up}}</ref> and standardized [[adoption]] procedures.<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Adoption Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=55 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/190/mode/2up}}</ref>
* [[Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario|Ontario Hydro]] saw greater expansion in the field of [[rural electrification]]<ref name="RHDA1921">{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Rural Hydro-Electric Distribution Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=21 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/50/mode/2up}}</ref> and in 1921, Hydro acquired the [[Toronto Electric Light Company]], together with various railway interests,<ref>sanctioned by {{Cite canlaw |short title=An Act respecting the Filing of Claims against Certain Companies or their Properties |abbr=S.O. |year=1922 |chapter=33 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/144/mode/2up}}, {{Cite canlaw |short title=The County of York Radial Railway Act, 1922 |abbr=S.O. |year=1922 |chapter=34 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/150/mode/2up}} and {{Cite canlaw |short title=The Toronto Suburban Railway Company Act, 1922 |abbr=S.O. |year=1922 |chapter=35 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/152/mode/2up}}</ref> thus making it the largest electric power system in the world.<ref>{{cite news |title=ONTARIO ACQUIRES ELECTRIC INTERESTS; Province Takes Over Mackenzie Concerns, Valued at More Than $32,000,000. RAIL AND POWER PLANTS. All Electrical Development Now Passes to Public Ownership Under Hydro Board. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/12/05/102990703.pdf |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 5, 1920 |access-date=August 16, 2013}}</ref>
* The [[Province of Ontario Savings Office]] was created,<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Agricultural Development Finance Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=31 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/104/mode/2up}}</ref> effectively a provincially-owned bank that was designed to lend money to farmers at a lower rate.<ref>{{cite journal |last=White |first=Randall |date=1995 |title=The Province of Ontario Savings Office, 1922{{en dash}}1990: A Case Study in the Complexities of Ontario Political Culture|journal= Ontario History|publisher= Ontario Historical Society|volume= 87|issue= 1|pages= 21{{en dash}}44}}</ref>
* It began the first major reforestation program in North America,<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Reforestation Act, 1921 |abbr=S.O. |year=1921 |chapter=19 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1921onta#page/48/mode/2up}}</ref> and initiated construction of the modern highway system.<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Highway Improvement Act, 1920 |abbr=S.O. |year=1920 |chapter=20 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1920onta#page/136/mode/2up}}</ref>
* Drury also arranged for a grant to [[Frederick Banting]] and [[Charles Best (medical scientist)|Charles Best]], at that time relatively unknown researchers, as a result of their discovery of [[insulin]].<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Banting and Best Medical Research Act, 1923 |abbr=S.O. |year=1923 |chapter=56 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1923onta#page/190/mode/2up}}</ref>

===Temperance controversies===
The government was also a strict enforcer of [[Temperance movement|temperance]] measures, amidst mixed publicity. The newly-elected Labour MLA [[George Grant Halcrow]] was immediately convicted of violating the ''[[Ontario Temperance Act]]'', which prevented him from receiving an expected appointment to the Cabinet.<ref name= "Hunt1995"/> He became House Leader for the Labour Party but found himself at odds with Attorney-General [[William Raney]] over temperance by admitting, "I was an out-and-out wet in the Legislature."<ref name= "Hunt1995"/>

When police and liquor officials were authorized to search automobiles and private yachts for illegal liquor, ''[[The Toronto Telegram]]'' observed that the only means of transportation where citizens could be free from search were "balloons and submarines".<ref name= "Hunt1995">{{cite book |author=Claude William Hunt |title=Whisky and Ice: The Saga of Ben Kerr, Canada's Most Daring Rumrunner |year=1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lecmr_fhqHgC&pg=PA59 |location=Toronto |publisher=[[Dundurn Press]] |pages=59{{en dash}}60|isbn = 1-55002-249-0}}</ref> Another Act was passed which effectively prevented any movement of liquor within the Province,<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Liquor Transportation Act, 1920 |abbr=S.O. |year=1920 |chapter=80 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1920onta#page/356/mode/2up}}</ref> but it was later held not to prohibit exports to the [[United States]].<ref name= "Hunt1995"/>

In 1920, Reverend [[J. O. L. Spracklin]], a Provincial Temperance enforcer, shot and killed an illicit liquor trader. The pastor, a strongly zealous and articulate personality, was acquitted of manslaughter, but the resultant publicity, generally linked with a major professed aim of Drury's administration, served to call the aim of rigorous temperance enforcement into question in the minds of many Ontarians.

At the same time, Drury personally grew an even more forceful commitment to temperance as his ministry progressed.  When he went to the public with an election in 1923, he stressed that his ministry's efforts to enforce prohibition were the most important contribution it had made.<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 197. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>

===Ontario Hydro===
[[Dougall Carmichael]], appointed as [[Minister without Portfolio]], was given the responsibility of being the government representative on the [[Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario]], and specifically with keeping its chairman [[Adam Beck]] in line.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Réal Bélanger |editor2=J. Andrew Ross |editor3=Andrew Smith |title=Canada's Entrepreneurs: From the Fur Trade to the 1929 Stock Market Crash |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cDSDuZXe5zoC&pg=PP1 |year=2011 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4426-4478-6 |page=388}}</ref> At one point in 1922, Carmichael announced to the Legislature that he was quitting his position as Commissioner because Hydro "was either inefficient or dishonest". He was forced to retract the allegation of dishonesty,<ref>{{cite news |title=First Time Carmichael Ever Withdrew Anything |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LwRTAAAAIBAJ&pg=5705,2817270&hl=en |newspaper=[[Regina Leader-Post|The Morning Leader]] |date=March 18, 1922 |access-date=October 19, 2013}}</ref> and continued to be a Commissioner until the following year.{{sfn|Fleming|1992|p=262}}

In 1920, responding to a campaign to have Hydro's rates made uniform,{{sfn|Fleming|1992|pp=57{{en dash}}59}} a Legislature committee headed by [[John Giles Lethbridge|John G. Lethbridge]] proposed a levy of $2 per {{convert|1|hp|kW}} on all electricity generated in the province in order to subsidize up to 80% of construction costs on rural transmission lines (whenever there was an average of three customers per mile of line).{{sfn|Fleming|1992|p=60}} Beck rejected the idea of a levy, but put forward his own plan (which generated great controversy).{{sfn|Fleming|1992|pp=63{{en dash}}64}} An Act that favoured Beck's view, through subsidizing up to 50% of construction costs in the rural power zone, was passed in 1921,<ref name="RHDA1921"/> which effectively tightened Hydro's control over public distributors and denied payments to private electricity producers.{{sfn|Fleming|1992|pp=74{{en dash}}76}}

Hydro's plans for the promotion of [[interurban railway]]s were significantly scaled back after the [[Robert Franklin Sutherland|Sutherland Commission]]'s report on the subject recommended it in 1921,<ref>{{cite book |title=Reports of Commission appointed to inquire into hydro-electric railways |url=https://archive.org/stream/reportsofcommiss00onta#page/n1/mode/2up |year=1921 |publisher=King's Printer |location=Toronto }}</ref> and its affairs in general were the subject of the Gregory Commission appointed in 1922.<ref>{{cite book |title=General report of the Hydro-Electric Inquiry Commission |url=https://archive.org/stream/b249448a#page/n3/mode/2up |volume=I |year=1924 |publisher=King's Printer |location=Toronto }}</ref>

By battling with Beck and his plans for expansion of the province's hydro-electric system, Drury also alienated industrialists and many workers.

===Forest policy===
The Drury government investigated the administration of forest concessions granted under the previous Hearst administration, which had been directed by its minister [[Howard Ferguson]], and passed an Act to provide for corrective measures with regard to permits that had been improperly issued.<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Timber Cutting Privileges Act, 1922 |abbr=S.O. |year=1922 |chapter=19 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/100/mode/2up}}</ref>

A particular issue with Ferguson's previous actions was that he had sold timber limits to the Shevlin-Clarke Lumber Company (headed by fellow Conservative [[James Arthur Mathieu]]) for less than half the price they would have normally fetched,{{sfn|Nelles|2005|p=386}} and the company later paid a fine of $1.5 million for breaching the ''Crown Timber Act''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mixed Division on Timber Bill in Legislature |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19220327&id=E58uAAAAIBAJ&pg=4099,7015454 |newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |date=March 27, 1922 |page=2}}, discussing the adoption of {{Cite canlaw |short title=The Shevlin-Clarke Timber License Act, 1922 |abbr=S.O. |year=1922 |chapter=20 |link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/102/mode/2up}}</ref> This transaction, as well as others, were criticized in a subsequent inquiry by the Latchford-Riddell Commission,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/timberintcomm00onta#page/n17/mode/2up |title=Report of the Timber Commission |last1=Riddell |first1=William Renwick |author-link1=William Renwick Riddell |last2=Latchford |first2=Francis Robert |author-link2=Francis Robert Latchford |date=1922 |website=archive.org |location=Toronto |publisher=King's Printer }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Lumber Company is Charged with Fraud |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=22&dat=19201102&id=JhI7AAAAIBAJ&pg=631,22002270 |newspaper=[[Toronto World]] |date=November 2, 1920 |page=5}}</ref> which reported:

{{cquote|
We are of the opinion that no officer, Minister or otherwise, should have the power to grant rights over large areas of the public domain at will without regard to Regulation; that power was never contemplated by the statutes; it does not at present exist, and should not be given to any individual. Such an arbitrary power subject to no control is obviously open to abuse.{{sfn|Nelles|2005|p=387}}
}}

Despite the amount of evidence gathered about the improper administration of forest lands (including Ferguson's self-professed arrogance in the matter){{sfn|Nelles|2005|pp=389{{en dash}}391}} and the recommendations given as to how it should be improved, the industry and Ferguson launched a vigorous attack against the United Farmers.{{sfn|Gillis|Roach|1986|pp=103{{en dash}}104}} Ferguson described the Commission as "claptrap political conspiracy", accused Drury and Raney of "political knavery", and the UFO as "intellectual and political freaks who were projected into prominence by accident and who grew out of garbage".{{sfn|Nelles|2005|p=394}} This scuttled any attempts at reform and helped to contribute to their later downfall.{{sfn|Gillis|Roach|1986|pp=103–104}}

===Other difficulties===
Many labour leaders distrusted a government dominated by farmers, feeling that they could not understand the problems of urban workers. Drury's failure to establish fair wage provisions in government contracts and his commitment to [[free trade]] that threatened the livelihood of industrial workers alienated urban workers further. Drury's Minimum Wage Act was the only significant piece of labour legislation passed by his ministry,<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 157. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref> although he also adjusted the Workmen's Compensation Act to be more generous to widows, and required journeymen electricians be employed in construction of hydro lines.

The government was opposed by all the major newspapers in the province, with the exception of the ''[[Toronto Star]]'', and, despite its attempt to broaden its base, was opposed by business.

===Fall from power===
The government under Drury tried to be a "people's government" rather than a "class government", but in so doing, alienated the base of its support, particularly farmers. In a series of erratic events, the UFO government clashed with the uncooperative UFO organization (led by [[James J. Morrison]] throughout Drury's term) which ultimately withdrew its support.

The Drury government collapsed after it introduced bills in the Legislature that would have brought in [[proportional representation]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/ontariobills1923ontauoft#page/n1155/mode/2up |title=Bill 178, 4th Session, 15th Legislature: The Proportional Representation Act, 1923 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=April 12, 1923 |website=archive.org }}</ref> and a [[preferential ballot]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/ontariobills1923ontauoft#page/n1167/mode/2up |title=Bill 179, 4th Session, 15th Legislature: The Ontario Election (Transferable Vote) Act, 1923 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=April 12, 1923 |website=archive.org }}</ref> and Drury called an early election.<ref name=obit>"Free-trader, writer and farmer, former Premier E.C. Drury dies" ''Globe and Mail'', February 19, 1968.</ref> The government was defeated when it ran for re-election in the [[1923 Ontario general election|1923 provincial election]], in part, due to false claims that Drury had used $100 to purchase a new solid-gold [[coal scuttle]] for his personal use. In fact, the device was an old brass scuttle which had been retrieved from storage and polished up. Drury never responded to the false claim, however, and it contributed to opposition claims of the government's extravagance.<ref name=obit/> Also, Drury's ministry never developed a proper party organisation to support any electoral effort.<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 199. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>

When asked what caused his ministry to fail before the voters, Drury would identify three causes: the Ontario Tempoerance Act, James J. Morrison's self-defeating opposition, and negative editorial coverage by the Toronto [[Globe and Mail|''Globe'']] newspaper<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 202. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>
[[File:Last Ministers UFO 1955.jpg|thumb|left|Last surviving members of the UFO–Labour coalition government (1919–1923) in 1955. From left to right: [[Harry Mills (politician)|Harry Mills]], E. C. Drury, [[Harry Nixon]] and [[Walter Rollo]]]]

===Legacy===
In the aftermath of their electoral defeat, the reputation of Drury's government was harmed by the [[Ontario Bond Scandal]] that resulted in Provincial Treasurer [[Peter Smith (Canadian politician)|Peter Smith]] being jailed.<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 209-213. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>

The people of Ontario quickly consigned Drury's ministry to oblivion; the short-lived premiership, if remembered at all, is considered largely inconsequential.<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 205-206. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>

Charles M. Johnston summarised the Drury ministry thusly: "It was the perceived values and standards of a Victorian yesterday that Drury and his colleagues soght to entrench through the actions of their government<ref>Johnston, Charles M. (1986). E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist. Ontario Historical Studies. Page 154. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3432-2</ref>."

==Later life==
Drury retired from politics but later ran as a federal candidate. Unlike many other members of the UFO, he never joined either the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] or the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]].

Drury was active with the [[Progressive Party of Canada]] following the demise of his provincial government. He ran as a Progressive candidate in [[Simcoe North (federal electoral district)|Simcoe North]] in the [[1925 Canadian federal election]], [[1926 Canadian federal election|1926]] and [[1930 Canadian federal election|1930 federal elections]] but was defeated by [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] candidates by margins of 600, 200 and 800 votes respectively.<ref>Library of Parliament, [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Det&Include=Y&rid=686 SIMCOE NORTH, Ontario (1867 - ) election results], ''History of Federal Ridings since 1867'', accessed February 14, 2008.</ref>

===Local government===
In 1934, he was appointed sheriff and registrar of [[Simcoe County]], a position which he held until 1959, when he retired as an octogenarian. A portrait of Drury is still displayed prominently at the local courthouse in Barrie.

===Writings===
He wrote for magazines such as ''[[Maclean's]]'' and also wrote two local histories of [[Simcoe County]]. He did not write his memoirs until 1966.

In June 2019, the city of [[Barrie]] published a poem of Drury’s entitled ''An Ode to Freedom in Canada'' along with interviews with his descendants on a [[website]] called Barrie Today.com.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.barrietoday.com/rooted/oro-medontes-drury-family-rooted-in-both-local-provincial-history-1492261 |title=Oro-Medonte's Drury family rooted in both local, provincial history |website=BarrieToday.com |language=en |access-date=2020-04-05}}</ref>

Drury remained interested in political matters. During the debate on whether or not Canada should install American-operated nuclear-tipped [[CIM-10 Bomarc|Bomarc missiles]] in the 1960s, Drury wrote "the next government of Canada... should refuse to accept nuclear arms. The whole nuclear program of the United States is dangerous."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pw20c.mcmaster.ca/canadian-peace-congress-leaflet-march-1963-1 |title=Canadian Peace Congress leaflet |date=March 1963 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181341/http://pw20c.mcmaster.ca/canadian-peace-congress-leaflet-march-1963-1 |archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref>
{{clear}}

==Recognition==
In 2011, the [[Ontario Heritage Trust]] erected a marker at Drury's gravesite, as part of its Premiers' Gravesites Program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/News-and-Events/2011/Mar/EVENT---Ernest-Charles-Drury-honoured-through-Prem.aspx |title=EVENT – Ernest Charles Drury honoured through Premiers' Gravesites Program |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=March 24, 2011 |publisher=[[Ontario Heritage Trust]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222130137/http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/News-and-Events/2011/Mar/EVENT---Ernest-Charles-Drury-honoured-through-Prem.aspx |archive-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref>

There was a secondary school, [[E. C. Drury High School]], which was closed and replaced by [[Craig Kielburger Secondary School]] in 2012. The provincial [[E. C. Drury School for the Deaf]] is still in operation in [[Milton, Ontario]].

==See also==

* [[James J. Morrison#Collapse of Drury government]]
* [[William Raney#Close involvement with Ontario Temperance Act]]
* [[J. O. L. Spracklin#Prohibition controversies and events of 1920]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==

===Biography===
* {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=Charles M. |date=1986 |title=E. C. Drury: Agrarian Idealist |url=https://archive.org/details/ecdruryagrariani0000john |url-access=registration |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |series=Ontario Historical Studies |isbn=0-8020-3432-2}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Drury |first=Ernest Charles |author-mask=1 |date=1955 |title=The Story of Simcoe County: Land of Holiday and History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylk5uQAACAAJ |publisher=Simcoe County }}
* {{cite book |last=Drury |first=Ernest Charles |author-mask=1 |date=1959 |title=All for a Beaver Hat: A History of Early Simcoe County |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ryYVAAAAYAAJ |location=Toronto |publisher=Ryerson Press }}
* {{cite book |last=Drury |first=Ernest Charles |author-mask=1 |date=1966 |title=Farmer Premier; Memoirs of the Honourable E. C. Drury |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtcJAQAAIAAJ |location=Toronto |publisher=[[McClelland and Stewart]] }}

===Other===
* {{cite book |first=Keith R. |last=Fleming |title=Power at Cost: Ontario Hydro and Rural Electrification, 1911{{en dash}}1958|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Taj_IgSAc-UC&pg=PP1|year= 1992|publisher= [[McGill-Queen's University Press]]|isbn= 0-7735-0868-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gillis |first1=R. Peter |last2=Roach |first2=Thomas R. |date=1986 |title=Lost Initiatives: Canada's Forest Industries, Forest Policy, and Forest Conservation |url=https://archive.org/details/lostinitiativesc0000gill |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/lostinitiativesc0000gill/page/103 103] |location=Westport |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-25415-X |issn=0084-9235 }}
* {{cite book |first=H. V. |last=Nelles |title=Politics of Development: Forests, Mines, and Hydro-Electric Power in Ontario, 1849{{en dash}}1941|edition=2nd|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=N9DRjjxZRPQC&pg=PP1|year= 2005|publisher= [[McGill-Queen's University Press]]|isbn= 0-7735-2758-3}}

==External links==
* {{Ontario MPP biography|id=ernest-charles-drury|old_id=459|name=Ernest Charles Drury}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_5482_1.html |publisher=[[Ontario Heritage Foundation]] |title=Plaque: Honourable Ernest Charles Drury |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927034537/http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_5482_1.html |archive-date=2007-09-27}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.uoguelph.ca/oac/140faces/ernest-charles-drury |title=Ernest Charles Drury |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=www.uoguelph.ca |publisher=[[Ontario Agricultural College]] }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ernest-charles-drury/ |title=Ernest Charles Drury |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]}}
* [https://aims.archives.gov.on.ca/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/DESCRIPTION_WEB/WEB_DESC_DET?SESSIONSEARCH&exp=sisn%20135 E.C. Drury fonds], Archives of Ontario

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 | title=[[United Farmers of Ontario|Leader of the United Farmers of Ontario]]
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{{E.C. Drury Ministry}}
{{ONPremiers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drury, Ernest}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian farmers]]
[[Category:Canadian political party founders]]
[[Category:Leaders of the United Farmers of Ontario/Progressives]]
[[Category:Members of the United Church of Canada]]
[[Category:Politicians from Simcoe County]]
[[Category:Premiers of Ontario]]
[[Category:United Farmers of Ontario MLAs]]
[[Category:Writers from Simcoe County]]
[[Category:Farmers from Ontario]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:Canadian people of English descent]]