After Charles Dunning moved on to federal politics in the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King, James Garfield Gardiner came along to assume the role of Saskatchewan’s fourth premier.
Gardiner was born on Nov. 30, 1883 in South Huron, Ontario to Scottish immigrants James and Elizabeth Gardiner. As a child in grade school, one of his teachers was Harvey Greenway, the son of the former premier of Manitoba.
In 1904, Gardiner came to Saskatchewan with a second-class teacher’s certificate. He began teaching at a small school near Alpha, while attending the normal school in Regina. Gardiner spent a year-and-a-half teaching and then went to Manitoba College to continue his education. In college, he led the debate team and took them to an international competition in North Dakota. He was also a skilled football player. The Regina Leader-Post wrote,
“His energy was inexhaustible. His courage and resource against odds making him an invaluable asset to the team.”
In 1911, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours and that same year, he married his first wife, Maud, who sadly died in 1914. The two did not have any children.
After he left college, he became principal of the Lemberg continuation school. He remained there for a year and a half before the decision was made to start a new venture in his life.
In 1914, Gardiner was elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in a by-election in North Qu’Appelle. In that by-election, he took 56.79 per cent of the vote. Around this same time, he bought a farm near Lemberg, Saskatchewan. He would operate that farm for more than four decades with his son.
The Saskatoon Daily Star wrote,
“From the time he entered the Legislature, Mr. Gardiner was recognized as one of its ablest speakers and was dubbed “the boy orator”.
In 1917 when the federal Liberal Party broke over the issue of conscription, Gardiner stood with the Laurier Liberals despite most in the prairies supporting conscription and the Union Government of Sir Robert Borden. He did this while having three brothers serving in the trenches, and one brother who had already died in the war. By the end of the war, two of his four brothers were dead, and two were still receiving medical care a decade after the war from the injuries they received.
One bright spot for him in 1917 was that he married Christy Violet.
He then spent the next few years working to strengthen the Liberal Party in Saskatchewan. Thanks to the work of Gardiner and others, between 1914 and 1944, the Liberals won every election except 1929. His work in Saskatchewan turned the Liberals into The Big Red Machine.
In 1922, he took over the cabinet post of Minister of Highways under the government of Premier Charles Dunning.
On Feb. 26, 1926, following the resignation of Dunning to serve in the federal cabinet of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Gardiner took over as premier of Saskatchewan. He was a unanimous choice to succeed Dunning at a meeting of 1,000 Liberals at a meeting in Regina. The Windsor Star wrote,
“The new Liberal leader of Saskatchewan has not been nationally known until now, but his progress will be watched with interest.”
Those who knew him like William Turnbull, said,
“I will say for Jim that he was a good boy, a sensible boy and he has made every step of his way up the ladder with his Bible in his hand.”
Thomas Hunkin, who employed Gardiner when he was younger, said,
“He was a hard-working, industrious, energetic boy. Not a lazy inch in him. He liked worked but he liked play too. The thing that stands in my mind about him was that he was a jolly boy.”
Only a few months after he took the top job in Saskatchewan, Gardener’s father died in London from a long illness.
As premier in 1928, Gardiner enacted the Saskatchewan Sanitoria and Hospitals Act. This was the first legislation to provide free hospitalization and treatment for victims of tuberculosis in North America.
In his first election as premier on June 6, 1929, Gardiner and the Liberals lost their majority government. This was the first minority government for the party since it formed government in 1905 and the first minority government in Saskatchewan’s history.
Gardiner said,
“The result is a surprise. The propaganda put on consistently during the past 18 months seems to have convinced the public that there is something not altogether right with the administration and it has exercised its right to check up. I am sure they will find that their past confidence was not misplaced. I congratulate our combined opponents upon the success of their campaign.”
The loss of the majority was attributed to several factors, including the growing influence of the Klu Klux Klan who were pushing an anti-French, anti-Catholic and anti-immigration campaign.
Soon after the election, on Sept. 9, 1929, the Conservatives brought down the government on a motion of no confidence and formed government through an agreement with the Progressive Party and other independent members. This was the first time the Liberals did not govern the province.
The Montreal Gazette wrote,
“Premier James Gardiner and his ministers are preparing to vacate their offices in the Legislature.”
Now serving as Leader of the Opposition, Gardiner accused the Conservatives and new premier James Anderson of bigotry and working with the KKK. He was not afraid to stand up to any sort of aggression in the Legislature either. On April 8, 1932, A.C. Stewart, a member of the Conservatives, accused Gardiner of avoiding fighting in the First World War by getting married. Gardiner responded by calling Stewart a dirty skunk and telling him he would meet him outside. He apologized the following day.
In the June 19, 1934 election, the Liberals and James Gardiner returned to power with a massive majority government. The party took 50 seats, an increase of 22, while the Farmer-Labour Group took five seats. The Conservatives lost every single seat they had previously. Happy to be back in the premier’s chair, on election night Gardiner said,
“I’ve been making speeches for the past six weeks but I’m not going to make one tonight.”
He then went on to say,
“Democracy always finally triumphs when parties play fair. The decision of the people is Liberalism’s opportunity. My hope is that we can measure up to it.”
In 1935, when the On To Ottawa Trek reached Regina, Gardiner began to negotiate to help end the protest movement. The movement began in Vancouver as 1,000 unemployed men hopped onto a train to go to Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. Near the end of June 1935, they stopped in Regina.
Gardiner was not happy the trek had been allowed to proceed and then stopped in Regina. He was also not happy that the RCMP were being ordered by Ottawa, and the provincial government was completely left out of it.
The federal government was able to do this because they invoked the Railway Act, which allowed them to oversee the law enforcement of the province, while stopping the train from traveling any further. Gardiner pointed out that the trekkers could not be called trespassers by the CPR and CNR because they had provided them with train cars to ride on, whether they realized it or not, to that point.
With their movement east to Ottawa being stopped by police and the railway, it was decided that they would head back to the west coast, but the federal government insisted that the group disband on their terms, which involved going to a holding facility where the men would be processed. The leadership of the strikers did not want to do this, and they turned to Premier Gardiner and his cabinet for assistance.
In the evening of July 1, 1935, while the provincial cabinet was meeting to discuss the proposal, a public meeting was held in Market Square to update the public on the progress of the movement. Only 300 On-To-Ottawa Trekkers were there, but the crowd numbered over 1,500 people.
On three sides of the square moving trucks were parked and behind those trucks were RCMP riot squads. Regina police were in the garage of the police station as well. At 8:17 p.m., a whistle was blown and the police charged into the crowd with batons from all four sides. The people, who were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the police, fought with sticks and stones. Over 130 rioters were arrested, and two people were killed in what is now called The Regina Riot.
Saskatchewan Premier Gardiner agreed to meet with the protesters but the protesters were arrested as they left the area, only to be released soon after for their meeting with the Premier.
Premier Gardiner, after speaking with the protesters, wired the prime minister and stated that the police had created the riot and that the men should be fed where they are and sent back to their camps and homes as they had requested. He was unhappy that the federal government had invaded into provincial jurisdiction as well. Bennett, believing the had put down a communist revolt, agreed, while Gardiner seemed happy to have the protesters out of the province. The Saskatchewan government did provide free transportation back to British Columbia for the protesters as a gesture of peace.
On Oct. 14, 1935, the government of R.B. Bennett suffered a massive collapse in the federal election and William Lyon Mackenzie King and the Liberals came to power. This turned out to also have an impact on the life of Gardiner.
One week later, William Lyon Mackenzie King approached Gardiner about joining the federal government. He wrote in his diary,
“I had talked with Gardiner about coming in, and that Gardiner was quite satisfied that he should come, that he would have to keep in his own yard.”
This was not a quick decision by King. He had talked to Gardiner about joining the federal cabinet back in July 1935, long before the election came along. He wrote in his diary,
“He would be a real strength to me, and his claim to recognition could not be disputed.”
On Nov. 1, 1935, Gardiner resigned as premier to become Minister of Agriculture in the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King in Ottawa. This would be the portfolio he held for astounding 22 years.
In 1939, he pushed through the Prairie Farm Assistance Act. This Act recognized the federal government’s responsibility to ensure the economic well-being of grain farmers in the Canadian Prairies.
From 1940 to 1941, Gardiner briefly served as the Minister of National War Services. In that role, he put forward legislation for conscientious objectors in Canada to perform non-military service. A main reason for this was that Gardiner was a member of the United Church of Canada and a believer in global peace.
In 1944, tragedy came to Gardiner when his wife Christy died. The couple had four children, including John Edwin, who was killed at Dieppe.
In 1947, Gardiner was sworn into the Imperial Privy Council, giving him the honorific of The Right Honourable. One year later following the retirement of King, Gardiner ran in the leadership convention to replace him.
In his convention speech, he called for increased immigration and closer ties to the United Kingdom. He asked for the chance to be the party’s spark plug in his 20 minute speech. Most in the convention considered him to be the main competition to Louis St. Laurent. King though was not a supporter and campaigned in the party against Gardiner and in favour of St. Laurent. He called the campaign of Gardiner ruthless and selfish.
Gardiner lost to Louis St. Laurent on the first ballot, gaining only 26.3 per cent of the vote.
A spry man well into old age, he was always happy to dance a jig at a House of Commons party. The Windsor Star wrote,
“Nobody on Parliament Hill ever stepped livelier.”
Gardiner was well respected on both sides of the aisle in the House of Commons, with most calling him Jimmy. The Windsor Star wrote,
“His voice carried like a bugle. If anyone tried to shout him down, he merely raised his voice enough notices to overcome the interference.”
He didn’t like writing speeches in advance, and rarely carried notes. All the speeches he gave were based off facts and figures in his head.
On March 31, 1958, Gardiner lost in the federal election as John Diefenbaker and the Progressive Conservatives came to power with a record-setting majority. In that election, he finished a distant third behind James Ormiston, the Progressive Conservative who won, and John Burton, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate.
Prior to this election loss, Gardiner never finished with less than 40 per cent of the vote in a federal election and that came in 1957. Prior to that, his lowest was 48.29 per cent. In provincial elections, he never finished with less than 56 per cent and was twice acclaimed.
After the election loss, Gardiner returned to what he loved the most, farming.
In late-1961, Gardiner went through a surgery in Regina and recovered enough from it to attend the Saskatchewan Liberal convention at the end of November 1961. He had attended every convention since 1929, and this proved to be his last.
On Jan. 12, 1962, Gardiner died at the age of 78 on the farm he had owned for half a century. It was said his mind was clear until he lapsed into his final coma. His son Wilfrid said,
“Father enjoyed the last few days. He was extremely happy that he was able to devote them to leaving behind his spoken record of the political history of Saskatchewan and of Canada in which he had played a part.”
Liberal leader Lester B. Pearson said,
“Canada has lost one of her most distinguished public men, one who served her in political life with devotion and drive and imagination for nearly half a century.”
Prime Minister John Diefenbaker said,
“Few men have had such a long, active and varied political life as James Gardiner. He was a man of strong opinions who left his mark on provincial and federal politics. He was a fighter for the causes he believed in and his experience enabled him to acquire a wide knowledge of the problems from agriculture and politics.”
Former Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent said,
“We worked together as members of the Canadian government for almost 16 years and I always held him in high esteem and felt his devotion to the public service of his fellow citizens.”
On June 21, 1967, Gardiner Dam was declared open. This dam is 64 metres in height and five kilometres long. Located along the South Saskatchewan River, it is the third-largest embankment dam in Canada and one of the largest in the world.
