Meighen, Arthur, 1874-1960 : Prime Minister of Canada (1920-21, 1926).
Arthur Meighen was born in Perth County, Ontario on 16 June 1874. He studied mathematics at the University of Toronto and law at Osgoode Hall before moving to Manitoba.
Meighen was elected to parliament as a Conservative for the riding of Portage la Prairie in 1908. Under Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden, he served as solicitor general (1913-17), minister of mines (1917 & 1919-20), secretary of state (1917), minister of the interior (1917-20) and superintendent of Indian affairs (1917-20).
As a minister, Meighen oversaw the introduction of military conscription in 1917, the creation of the Canadian National Railway, the suppression of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and the criminalisation of membership in 'seditious' organisations.
Meighen succeeded Borden as prime minister in July 1920. Internationally, he opposed the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese alliance and advocated for tariffs at home. The Conservatives were defeated in the December 1921 election. Meighen lost his own seat, but was soon elected for the riding of Grenville.
Meighen won the plurality of seats in the October 1925 election, though the Liberals retained power with the Progressive Party's support until a scandal brought it down in June 1926. Rather than call an election, the Governor General invited Meighen to form a government, which fell on a motion of confidence after only three days. When the Liberals won the September election, Meighen resigned and practiced law in Toronto.
Prime Minister Richard B. Bennett appointed Meighen to the Senate in 1932 as leader of the government and minister without portfolio. Meighen became leader of the Conservative Party for a second time in November 1941. He resigned from the Senate, but was defeated in a by-election in the riding of York South. He resigned the leadership in December.
In 1904, Meighen married Isabel Cox. He died at Toronto on 5 August 1960, and was buried in St. Mary's, Ontario.
As a minister, Meighen endorsed the federal government's systematically racist relationship with Indigenous Peoples, which caused tremendous ongoing trauma, displacement, disenfranchisement and exclusion. Specifically, a 1918 amendment to the Indian Act gave the government unilateral powers to take reserve lands and funds without the consent of First Nations and lease the land to settlers for farming. A 1920 amendment made attendance at Day or Residential Schools compulsory and increased the government's powers over enfranchisement and the status of First Nations women.
The Government of Canada has officially apologised for actions taken under Meighen's authority. The Prime Minister at the time apologised for Indian Residential Schools in 2008 and 2017.
