Humphrey Mitchell

The Honourable Humphrey Mitchell PC
Mitchell in the mid-1940s.
Minister of Labour
In office 1941–1950
Prime Minister	William Lyon Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Norman Alexander McLarty
Succeeded by	Paul Martin Sr. (acting)
Member of Parliament for Welland
In office 1942–1950
Preceded by	Arthur Damude
Succeeded by	William Hector McMillan
Member of Parliament for Hamilton East
In office 1931–1935
Prime Minister	R. B. Bennett
Preceded by	George Rennie
Succeeded by	Albert A. Brown
Personal details
Born	(1894-09-09)September 9, 1894
Died	August 1, 1950(1950-08-01) (aged 55)
Political party	Liberal–Labour
Profession	Land surveyor

Humphrey Mitchell, PC (September 9, 1894 – August 1, 1950) was a Canadian politician and trade unionist.

Life and career

A land surveyor employed with Hamilton Hydro, Mitchell was active with the union movement in the city. Upon the death of Hamilton East's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), George Septimus Rennie in 1931, Mitchell was approached to run in the by-election to fill the seat as a Labour candidate. Hamilton East was a strong working class riding that had elected Labour candidates to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and to city council.

The Liberals, in opposition having lost the previous year's general election did not run a candidate against Mitchell in order to avoid dividing the anti-Conservative vote. Given future events, it is also possible the Liberals believed that Mitchell would support the Liberal Party unofficially if elected.

Mitchell won the by-election, and entered the House of Commons of Canada. He did not get along well with the rump of Independent Labour MPs led informally by J.S. Woodsworth and referred to as the "Ginger Group". While Mitchell attended the "founding meeting" of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in William Irvine's office, he refused to join the new party when Labour MPs joined with farmers groups, socialist groups and others to officially launch the CCF in 1932 and refused to work with its supporters in Parliament.

In the 1935 general election, the CCF ran a candidate against Mitchell in Hamilton East (while the Liberals, again, ran no candidate). The split in the labour and anti-Tory vote resulted in the Conservative candidate defeating Mitchell despite the nationwide trend against the Conservatives. Mitchell was then acclaimed to the Hamilton Board of Education as a school trustee that December.

Mitchell did not run in the 1940 election, however, following the death of Welland's Liberal MP in late 1941, Mitchell was appointed to the Cabinet of William Lyon Mackenzie King as Minister of Labour, and was elected shortly thereafter as the new Liberal MP for Welland. He served as Welland's MP and as Labour minister in the governments of King and Louis St. Laurent until his death in 1950.

Mitchell became Labour minister just over a year after the introduction of unemployment insurance in Canada, and oversaw the early implementation and expansion of the program. He also oversaw the mobilization of the labour force during World War II, and the widespread introduction of women into war production.

With the responsibilities his department had for immigration, he also had a controversial role in advocating and implementing the deportation or detention of tens of thousands of Japanese Canadians during the war.

Electoral record

Summary of the December 2, 1935 Hamilton Board of Education Ward 5 Trustee Election

Candidate		Affiliation	Popular vote		Elected?
			Votes	%
	Humphrey Mitchell	Independent Liberal-Labour	Acclaimed
Total votes
Registered voters
Note: Candidate campaign colours are used as a visual differentiation between candidates and to indicate affiliation.
Sources: "Five School Trustees Are Not Opposed", Hamilton Spectator, November 22, 1935, pp. 7,17.

On Mr. Rennie's death, 13 October 1930:

References

External links

• Humphrey Mitchell – Parliament of Canada biography