View source for Stuart Garson

{{short description|Canadian politician and lawyer (1898-1977)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|QC|size=100%}}
| image            = Stuart Garson.jpg
| imagesize        =
| caption          = 
| order            = 12th
| office           = Premier of Manitoba
| predecessor      = [[John Bracken]]
| successor        = [[Douglas Lloyd Campbell]]
| monarch          = [[George VI]]
| lieutenant_governor = [[Roland Fairbairn McWilliams|Roland F. McWilliams]]
| term_start       = January 14, 1943
| term_end         = November 13, 1948
| office1          = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Manitoba]] for [[Fairford (electoral district)|Fairford]]
| term_start1      = June 28, 1927
| term_end1        = November 13, 1948
| predecessor1     = [[Albert Kirvan]]
| successor1       = [[James Anderson (Manitoba politician)|James Anderson]]
| riding2          = [[Marquette (federal electoral district)|Marquette]]
| parliament2      = Canadian
| term_start2      = December 20, 1948
| term_end2        = June 10, 1957
| predecessor2     = [[James Allison Glen]]
| successor2       = [[Nick Mandziuk]]
| birth_name       = Stuart Sinclair Garson
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1898|12|01}}
| birth_place      = [[St. Catharines, Ontario]], Canada
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1977|05|05|1898|12|01}}
| death_place      = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], Canada
| spouse           = {{marriage|Emily Topper|1933}}
| party            = Federal: [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]<br>Provincial: [[Progressive Party of Manitoba|Progressive]] (1927-1932)<br>[[Manitoba Liberal Party|Liberal-Progressive]] (1932-1948)
| relations        = [[William Garson]] (father)
| children         = 2 daughters
| residence        = [[Ashern, Manitoba]]
| alma_mater       = [[University of Manitoba]]
| occupation       = lawyer
| profession       = politician 
| cabinet          = Provincial Treasurer (1936–1948)<br>Minister Manitoba Power Commission (1940–1944)<br>Minister Public Utilities (1941–1944)<br>President of the Council (1943–1948)<br>Minister Dominion-Provincial Relations (1943–1948)<br>Solicitor General of Canada (1950–1952)<br>Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (1948–1957)
| committees       = 
| portfolio        = 
| signature        =
| website          =
| footnotes        =
}}

'''Stuart Sinclair Garson''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|QC}} (December 1, 1898 &ndash; May 5, 1977) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th [[premier of Manitoba]] from 1943 to 1948, and later became a Federal cabinet minister.

==Life and career==
Born in [[St. Catharines, Ontario]], the son of [[William Garson]] and Margaret Annable, Garson came to Manitoba with his parents in 1901. He received a Bachelor of Law degree from the [[University of Manitoba]] in 1918 and was called to the bar a year later. He practised law in [[Ashern, Manitoba]], from 1919 to 1928. Garson was first elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Manitoba]] for the [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Fairford (electoral district)|Fairford]] in 1927 as a [[Progressive Party of Manitoba|Progressive]], defeating incumbent [[Manitoba Liberal Party|Liberal]] [[Albert Kirvan]]. He defeated again Kirvan in 1932, and faced only minor competition for the remainder of his time in the Manitoba legislature. In early 1932, Garson was one of the founding members of the province's [[Manitoba Liberal Party|Liberal-Progressive coalition]].

Garson was sworn in as provincial [[Minister of Finance (Manitoba)|Treasurer]] on September 21, 1936. He also became minister of the [[Manitoba Hydro|Manitoba Power Commission]] on November 4, 1940, and [[Minister of Public Utilities]] on May 15, 1941. He continued to hold all of these positions after succeeding [[John Bracken]] as Premier on January 14, 1943. He resigned the MPC and Utilities portfolios in 1944.

Garson's government was perhaps slightly more interventionist than those of Bracken and his eventual successor [[Douglas Lloyd Campbell|Douglas Campbell]]. Garson's ministry began a program of rapid [[rural electrification]], and made some effort to service the needs of returning soldiers after [[World War II]]. All the same, he rejected demands from the [[Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] to introduce programs in public housing and old-age pensions.

Under Garson's leadership, the "Liberal-Progressive" alliance became a united party—albeit one that was dominated by former Progressive politicians. His ministry also retained close ties to the federal Liberal government of [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]].

Garson moved to federal politics in 1948, at the behest of new Liberal Prime Minister [[Louis St. Laurent]]. On November 15, 1948, Garson was sworn in as [[Minister of Justice]] and [[Attorney General]]; he was elected to the federal parliament in a by-election for the rural seat of [[Marquette (federal electoral district)|Marquette]] the next month. For the next nine years, Garson would be the dominant cabinet minister from Manitoba in St. Laurent's government. He also served as [[Canadian Solicitor General|Solicitor General]] of Canada from August 7, 1950, to October 14, 1952.

Garson lost his seat in 1957, the year that Progressive Conservative leader [[John Diefenbaker]] formed a minority government.  Indeed, Diefenbaker's Tories won victory mainly by ousting many Liberal MPs from the Prairies, including Garson.  He retired from political life. In 1971, he was made a Companion of the [[Order of Canada]].

==External links==
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=13232}}
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/stuart-garson/ Stuart Sinclair Garson] at [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060409084020/http://www.umanitoba.ca/honours/index.php?s=gg&pg=ppl&det=126 University of Manitoba profile]

{{Manitoba Liberal Leaders}}
{{MBPremiers}}
{{CA-Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General}}
{{CA-Solicitors General of Canada}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garson, Stuart}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Lawyers in Manitoba]]
[[Category:Canadian King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba]]
[[Category:Members of the United Church of Canada]]
[[Category:Politicians from St. Catharines]]
[[Category:Premiers of Manitoba]]
[[Category:University of Manitoba alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Solicitors general of Canada]]
[[Category:Robson Hall alumni]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Manitoba]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]