William Charles Good

William Charles Good
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Brant
In office
1921–1925
Preceded byJohn Harold
Succeeded byFranklin Smoke
Personal details
Born(1876-02-24)February 24, 1876
Near Brantford, Ontario, Canada[1]
Died November 16, 1967(1967-11-16) (aged 91)
Paris, Ontario, Canada[2]
Political partyProgressive Party of Canada

William Charles Good (February 24, 1876 – November 16, 1967),[2] also known as W. C. Good, was a Canadian politician and leader of the farmers' and co-operative movement in Canada.

Good joined[citation needed] the executive of the Farmers' Association in 1904.[2] A proponent of farmers' unity, he helped found the Canadian Council of Agriculture in 1909 with Ernest Charles Drury and E. A. Partridge and helped organize the United Farmers of Ontario and its co-operative arm in 1914.[2]

Good was a prominent[citation needed] member of the Progressive Party of Canada and was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1921 as one of its MPs and served until 1925 representing the riding of Brant.[3] He was an advocate of electoral reform, tariff reform, temperance and banking reform.

In June 1922, he introduced legislation in the House of Commons that would have seen Instant-runoff voting used in each riding where more than two candidates were competing and he also called for demonstration multi-member districts in to provide experience of proportional representation. However the bill was defeated [4]

He was elected president of the Co-operative Union of Canada in 1921, retaining that office until 1945. He was a founding member of the Ginger Group of radical MPs in 1924.

An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected in front of the Myrtleville House museum in Brantford, Ontario, by the province to commemorate William Charles Good's role in Ontario's heritage.[5]

Archives

There is a William Charles Good fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[6][7] Archival reference number is R4238.

Electoral record

1921 Canadian federal election: Brant
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive William Charles Good 3,309 40.8 +2.0
Conservative William Harper Reid 3,150 38.9 +0.1
Liberal Robert John Atkin 1,645 20.3 -3.6
Total valid votes 8,104 100.0

Note: Conservative vote is compared to Unionist vote in 1917 election, and Liberal vote is compared to Opposition vote.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Macpherson 2013; Thomas 1973, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b c d Macpherson 2013.
  3. ^ Thomas 1973, p. 17.
  4. ^ The UFA, June 1, 1922
  5. ^ Ontario Plaque
  6. ^ "Finding aid to William Charles Good fonds, part 1" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Finding to William Charles Good fonds, part 2" (PDF).

Bibliography

  • Macpherson, Ian (2013). "William Charles Good". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  • Thomas, Roy (1973). The Ideas of William Charles Good: A Christian and Agrarian Reformer; The Formative Years, 1896–1919 (MA thesis). Ottawa: University of Ottawa. hdl:10393/22085.


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