Reginald “Dutch” Thompson’s column The Bygone Days brings you the voices of Island seniors, many of whom are now long-departed. These tales of the way things used to be offer a fascinating glimpse into the past. Every few weeks, CBC P.E.I. will bring you one of Dutch’s columns.
P.E.I. is having a byelection Monday in District 10, Charlottetown-Winsloe, so it’s an opportune time to take a look back at politics and elections in the Island’s bygone days of 100 years ago and see how much has changed.
Dutch Thompson is an award-winning historian and storyteller. He has published a book about P.E.I.’s bygone days. (Submitted by Dutch Thompson)
Elmer McInnis was born in 1908 in Lorne Valley in eastern P.E.I. MacInnis remembered a blacksmith from Murray River who settled on a farm in Lorne Valley, who was known as Peter the Grit, because he was a long-standing Liberal.
McInnis recalled this story: Sir Wilfred Laurier was the Liberal prime minister of Canada at the time, and someone asked Peter the Grit who was the best person — Jesus, or Laurier?
“He thought for a while,” McInnis said, and replied, “Well, I suppose the Lord is the oldest!”
Andrew Murnaghan remembers being offered a pint of liquor for his vote decades ago on P.E.I. (Dutch Thompson)
Andrew Murnaghan from Donagh was born in 1915. He remembered being offered a pint of liquor for a vote, from the Liberals or Conservatives of the day — or maybe both.
“There was some done that — collected from both sides,” Murnaghan said.
Peter the Grit’s grandson became a renowned moonshine maker in the Lorne Valley area — one might rightly wonder if he sold exclusively to Liberals, or if business trumped politics.
Making political hay
Voters were also bribed in the bygone days with jobs, or even hay.
Father Francis Corcoran came from a community of quick-witted Islanders who made up folk songs about interesting events, like rewarding votes with hay. (Dutch Thompson)
Father Francis Corcoran grew up in Baldwin Road near Cardigan, where people were noted for making up satirical folk songs.
One such song was written about an unusual summer in the 1930s during which P.E.I.’s hay crop failed. A train-load of hay had to be imported from Quebec to feed Island cattle and horses. All went well until it was time to divvy up the hay — and that fell along party lines.
Corcoran sang this ditty, The Hay Song.
Two cars of hay rolled up to Peakes, were put off at the switch, Then up steps Captain Mooney with a few more favoured Grits, The car door was pushed open, and Trainor he stepped in, “You’ll do with less” the captain said, “for you know there’s feed for Jim. Now don’t forget your friend Big Burns, give him the lion’s share, To feed the royal parkland and the little Barney mare, Give a tonne to brother Robert although he stayed at home, If he had come and voted, the seat would have been won.” And up steps Johnny Hendricken and said “Boys, it isn’t fair, For when the cars of hay they come, I should have got my share, So I ride into Arthur, and him I’m going tell, the hay that should have been for me was hauled out to Morell.”
‘Slam the living hell out of one another’
Politics can be divisive, and ruin relationships — but not always.
This is a pledge card the P.E.I. Temperance Alliance asked politicians to sign during elections, and is believed to be from about 1930. (Historic PEI)
In the 1930s, Premier Walter Lea was running for office in the district of Fourth Prince, in Prince County.
His son Dr. Gordon Lea recalled the debates drew big crowds in the days before television, and when most Islanders didn’t have radios either.
There’d be more fights at them political meetings than you could shake a stick at.— Roy Clow
“They were downright funny,” he said. “He had a perennial opponent, John Myers from Hampton, and the interesting thing that always interested me was how they could slam the living hell out of one another on the platform, and often get in the same car and come home together. One lived in Victoria and the other in Hampton, and they were the best of friends … [but] when they were out politicking, they were bitter opponents.”
In 1935, Walter Lea’s Liberals won all 30 seats in the P.E.I. Legislature — the first time in British Commonwealth history.
‘It was a real circus’
Prohibition on P.E.I. lasted longer than any other province in Canada and the debate over legalizing alcohol was always a hot issue at election time.
Roy Clow back in 1998 at his home in Montague. (Dutch Thompson)
Roy Clow remembered well the political debates in his hometown of Murray Harbour North when he was young.
“Oh it was a real circus, there’d be more fights at them political meetings than you could shake a stick at,” Clow said. “You wouldn’t be bothered going to the meeting to hear them talking, it was more fun watching them fight and cursing each other.”
He remembered going with his mother to debates and staying up well past his bedtime to get his “10 cent’s worth” of entertainment, he said.
Clow recalled being offered pints of liquor for his vote, and told this story: one of the politicians had hidden a five-gallon keg of rum in a barn in Montague. A couple of local lads, about 13 or 14 years old, saw them hiding the keg, and stole it. They split it up in pints and gave it out to everybody who wanted it, “having a great time,” Clow said with a laugh.
“The fella found out that they had taken it, and he went and looked and there wasn’t a damn thing left but the empty keg and a funnel. They cleaned him out just a couple days before the election!”
Prohibition was finally repealed in P.E.I. — the last province in Canada to do so — in 1948. However it was replaced by the Temperance Act, which restricted the sale of alcohol. Island residents required a permit to purchase limited amounts of liquor and a special permit was available to visitors.
In 1960, the restrictions on quantities were removed, and in 1967 the individual and tourist permits were finally abolished, according to the provincial government’s website.
Clow also recalled his father, a die-hard Liberal, taking the Conservative candidate out to the barn for several drinks of rum right before debates, hoping it would addle the politician’s brain during the debate.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
