The 15th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was in session from October 20, 1919, until May 10, 1923. The parliament was elected in the 1919 Ontario general election and was dissolved prior to the 1923 general election. The leading party in the chamber after the election was the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO). It formed a coalition government with 11 Labour MLAs and three Independent candidates of varying stripes.

The coalition held a slight majority of the seats and the parties it represented had taken about 34 percent of the vote in the 1919 election. The rest of the votes had been split between the Conservatives, the Liberals and others, many of which were unsuccessful candidates. (Under the first-past-the-post system, any votes cast for unsuccessful candidates are simply disregarded.)

The UFO derived a benefit from winning many rural seats where the number of votes involved were less than in the urban districts. In Brant North the UFO candidate won while receiving only 3,600 votes while in Ottawa West the Conservative candidate took 9,000 votes to win his seat.

The party approached Ernest Charles Drury, who had not run in the election, to serve as party leader and premier. Drury had not run in the 1919 election and was elected in a by-election held in Halton in 1920. He made it known that the coalition government party should be known by the name "The People's Party."1920 Parliamentary Guide, p. 316

Most of the seats the United Farmers won were taken at the expense of the Conservative party, who had formed the government in the preceding assembly and would again regain power in 1923.

Nelson Parliament served as speaker for the assembly.

The power wielded by the UFO-Labour coalition enabled the passage of progressive Labour and farmer legislation. The government created the first Department of Welfare for the province and brought in allowances for widows and children, a minimum wage for women and standardized adoption procedures. The government also expanded Ontario Hydro and promoted rural electrification, created the Province of Ontario Savings Office - a provincially owned bank that lent money to farmers at a lower rate - began the first major reforestation program in North America, and began construction of the modern highway system.Wiki: United Farmers of Ontario

The government was a strict enforcer of the Ontario Temperance Act, enacted in 1916, and Prohibition stayed in force until 1927.

The 1923 election saw the UFO-Labour coalition government defeated by a re-energized Conservative Party. The UFO vote stayed solid as compared to 1919 but the UFO suffered under First past the post and took about half the seats it was due.

In 1924 (after the 1923 election), the provincial treasurer Peter Smith was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the government following a series of events known as the Ontario Bond Scandal.

In the waning days of the UFO-Labour government, the government attempted to reform the province's electoral system (to introduce proportional representation) but the effort failed, in part due to Conservative opposition. The UFO suffered under the First past the post electoral system used in the 1923 election, taking just about half the seats they were due proportionally.Blais, To keep or to change First Past The Post, p. 113

Members of the Assembly Italicized names indicate members returned by acclamation. RidingMemberPartyFirst elected / previously electedNo. of termsAddingtonWilliam David BlackConservative19113rd termAlgomaKenneth Spencer StoverLiberal19191st termBrantHarry Corwin NixonUnited Farmers19191st termBrant SouthMorrison Mann MacBrideLabour19191st termBrockvilleDonald McAlpineLiberal19191st termBruce NorthWilliam Henry FentonUnited Farmers19191st termBruce SouthFrank RennieLiberal19191st termBruce WestAlexander Patterson MewhinneyLiberal19191st termCarletonRobert Henry GrantUnited Farmers19191st termCochraneMalcolm LangLiberal19142nd termDufferinThomas Kerr SlackUnited Farmers19191st termDundasWilliam H. CasselmanUnited Farmers19191st termDurham EastSamuel Sandford StaplesUnited Farmers19191st termDurham WestWilliam John BraggLiberal19191st termElgin EastMalcolm MacVicarUnited Farmers19191st termElgin WestPeter Gow CameronUnited Farmers19191st termEssex NorthAlphonse George TisdelleUnited Farmers19191st termEssex SouthMilton C. FoxUnited Farmers19191st termFort WilliamHenry MillsLabour19191st termFrontenacAnthony McGuin RankinConservative19113rd termGlengarryDuncan Alexander RossUnited Farmers19191st termGrenvilleGeorge Howard FergusonConservative19055th termGrey CentreDougall CarmichaelUnited Farmers19191st termGrey NorthDavid James TaylorLiberal-United Farmers19191st termGrey SouthGeorge Mansfield LeesonUnited Farmers19191st termHaldimandWarren StringerUnited Farmers19191st termHaltonJohn Featherstone FordUnited Farmers19191st termErnest Charles Drury (1920)United Farmers19201st termHamilton EastGeorge Grant HalcrowLabour19191st termHamilton WestWalter RolloLabour19191st termHastings EastHenry Ketcheson DenyesUnited Farmers19191st termHastings NorthJohn Robert CookeConservative19113rd termHastings WestWilliam Henry IrelandConservative19191st termHuron CentreJohn M. GovenlockLabour19191st termHuron NorthJohn JoyntConservative19191st termHuron SouthAndrew HicksUnited Farmers19191st termKenoraPeter HeenanLabour19191st termKent EastJames B. ClarkUnited Farmers19191st termManning William Doherty (1920)United Farmers19201st termKent WestRobert Livingstone BrackinLiberal19191st termKingstonArthur Edward RossConservative19113rd termWilliam Folger Nickle (1922)Conservative1908, 19222nd term*Lambton EastLeslie Warner OkeUnited Farmers19191st termLambton WestJonah Moorehouse WebsterUnited Farmers19191st termLanark NorthHiram McCrearyUnited Farmers19191st termLanark SouthWilliam J. JohnstonUnited Farmers19191st termLeedsAndrew Wellington GrayConservative19191st termLennoxReginald Amherst FowlerConservative19182nd termLincolnThomas A. MarshallLiberal18987th termLondonHugh Allen StevensonLabour19191st termManitoulinBeniah BowmanUnited Farmers19182nd termMiddlesex EastJohn Willard FreebornUnited Farmers19191st termMiddlesex NorthJames C. BrownUnited Farmers19191st termMiddlesex WestJohn Giles LethbridgeUnited Farmers19191st termMuskokaGeorge Walter EcclestoneConservative19162nd termNiagara FallsCharles Fletcher SwayzeLabour19191st termNipissingJoseph MarceauLiberal19191st termNorfolk NorthGeorge David SewellUnited Farmers19191st termNorfolk SouthJoseph CridlandUnited Farmers19191st termNorthumberland EastWesley MontgomeryUnited Farmers19191st termNorthumberland WestSamuel ClarkeLiberal18987th termOntario NorthJohn Wesley WiddifieldUnited Farmers19192nd termOntario SouthWilliam Edmund Newton SinclairLiberal1911, 19192nd term*Ottawa EastJoseph Albert PinardLiberal19142nd termOttawa WestHammett Pinhey HillConservative19191st termOxford NorthJohn Alexander CalderLiberal19182nd termDavid Munroe Ross (1921)United Farmers19211st termOxford SouthAlbert Thomas WalkerUnited Farmers19191st termParkdaleWilliam Herbert PriceConservative19142nd termParry SoundRichard Reese HallLiberal19191st termPeelThomas Laird KennedyConservative19191st termPerth NorthFrancis Wellington HayLiberal19162nd termPerth SouthPeter SmithUnited Farmers19191st termPeterborough EastErnest Nicholls McDonaldUnited Farmers19191st termPeterborough WestThomas ToomsLabour19191st termPort ArthurDonald McDonald HogarthConservative19113rd termPrescottGustave ÉvanturelLiberal19113rd termPrince EdwardNelson ParliamentLiberal19142nd termRainy RiverJames Arthur MathieuConservative-Liberal19113rd termRenfrew NorthRalph Melville WarrenUnited Farmers19191st termRenfrew SouthJohn CartyUnited Farmers19191st termRiverdaleJoseph McNamaraSoldier19191st termRussellDamase RacineLiberal19055th termAlfred Goulet (1922)Liberal19221st termSault Ste. MarieJames Bertram CunninghamLabour19191st termSimcoe CentreGilbert Hugh MurdochUnited Farmers19191st termSimcoe EastJohn Benjamin JohnstonUnited Farmers19191st termSimcoe SouthEdgar James EvansUnited Farmers19191st termSimcoe WestWilliam Torrance AllenConservative19172nd termSt. CatharinesFrank Howard GreenlawLabour19191st termStormontJames William McLeodLiberal19191st termSturgeon FallsZotique MageauLiberal19113rd termSudburyCharles McCreaConservative19113rd termTimiskamingThomas MagladeryConservative19142nd termToronto Northeast - AHenry John CodyConservative19182nd termAlexander Cameron Lewis (1920)Conservative19201st termToronto Northeast - BJoseph Elijah ThompsonConservative19191st termToronto Northwest - AThomas CrawfordConservative18948th termToronto Northwest - BHenry Sloane CooperLiberal19191st termToronto Southeast - AJohn O'NeillLiberal19191st termJohn Allister Currie (1922)Conservative19221st termToronto Southeast - BJames Walter CurryLiberal19191st termToronto Southwest - AHerbert Hartley DewartLiberal19162nd termToronto Southwest - BJohn Carman RamsdenLiberal19191st termVictoria NorthEdgar WatsonUnited Farmers19191st termVictoria SouthFrederick George SandyUnited Farmers19191st termWaterloo NorthNicholas AsmussenIndependent Liberal19191st termWaterloo SouthKarl Kenneth HomuthLabour-United Farmers19191st termWellandRobert CooperLiberal19191st termWellington EastAlbert HellyerUnited Farmers19191st termWilliam Edgar Raney (1920)United Farmers19201st termWellington SouthCaleb Henry BucklandConservative19191st termWellington WestRobert Neil McArthurUnited Farmers19191st termWentworth NorthFrank Campbell BiggsUnited Farmers19191st termWentworth SouthWilson A. CrockettUnited Farmers19191st termWindsorJames Craig TolmieLiberal19142nd termYork EastGeorge Stewart HenryConservative19133rd termYork NorthThomas Herbert LennoxConservative19055th termYork WestForbes GodfreyConservative19075th term

Timeline + 15th Legislative Assembly of Ontario - Movement in seats held (1919–1923)Party1919Gain/(loss) due to1923 Deathin office Resignationas MPP Byelectiongain Byelectionhold44 (3) 1 3 4527 (2) (1) 1 2525 (2) 1 2 2611 111 11 11 11 1Total 111 (2) (6) 2 6 111

+ Changes in seats held (1919–1923) Seat Before Change Date Member Party Reason Date Member PartyKent EastJanuary 9, 1920James B. ClarkResignationFebruary 9, 1920Manning William DohertyHaltonJanuary 10, 1920John Featherstone FordResignationFebruary 16, 1920Ernest Charles DruryWellington EastFebruary 4, 1920Albert HellyerResignationFebruary 23, 1920William Edgar RaneyToronto Northeast - AMarch 3, 1920Henry John CodyResignationNovember 8, 1920Alexander Cameron LewisKingstonNovember 18, 1921Arthur Edward RossElected to federal seatFebruary 6, 1922William Folger NickleOxford NorthNovember 18, 1921John Alexander CalderResignationDecember 19, 1921David Munroe RossRussellDecember 2, 1921Damase RacineDied in officeOctober 23, 1922Alfred GouletToronto Southeast - AJanuary 6, 1922John O'NeillDied in officeOctober 23, 1922John Allister Currie

Notes

External links Members in Parliament 15

References