Tobias Crawford Norris

Tobias Crawford Norris (September 5, 1861-1936) was a Manitoba politician and Premier. He was born in Brampton, Canada West (now Ontario), and moved to the western province at a young age.

A Liberal, Norris was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1896 for the riding of Lansdowne. He was not called to serve in the cabinet of Premier Thomas Greenway.

Norris was narrowly re-elected in 1899, but was one of many Liberals defeated in the electoral debacle of 1903 (losing to Conservative Harvey Hicks by 16 votes). He defeated Hicks by 96 votes in a 1907 rematch, and subsequently became one of the leading figures in the parliamentary opposition. In 1910, he was chosen to replace Charles Mickle as Liberal leader.

Premier Rodmond P. Roblin called an election soon after Norris's selection as leader, and the Conservatives won 28 of 41 seats in the resulting campaign. Norris was re-elected in Lansdowne, and continued as opposition leader in the next parliament. He ran a stronger campaign in 1914, though Roblin's Conservatives still won 28 of 48 seats in an expanded legislature.

Roblin's government was brought down by scandal in early 1915, and Norris was called to serve as Premier in his place (like Roblin, he also gave himself the powerful position of Railway Commissioner). He called another election for August 6, with his party winning 40 of 47 seats.

Norris's government was considered a leading force for reform in Canada, introducing temperance legislation, extending the vote to women, and bringing in workman's compensation as well as a minimum wage. His government also introduced a rural farm credit system, a mother's allowance for widows (an important measure considering his government was in power during and after World War I), a public nursing system and workplace health and safety regulations. Road construction and public works were also expanded.

The Norris government's relations with the federal Liberal Party were generally poor. In 1916, the province eliminated the limited provisions for bilingual education agreed to in the Laurier-Greenway compromise of 1897 (see Manitoba Schools Question); this happened at a time when the federal Liberals were trying to rebuild a support base among Quebec nationalists. In the federal election of 1917, Norris's government supported the Union government of Robert Borden against the Opposition Liberals led by Wilfrid Laurier. The "Unionist" and "Laurier" Liberals within Manitoba were not reunited until 1922 (though Norris's hold on power was never threatened by this split).

Norris was in power during a period of rising radicalism in Manitoba with the most significant event being the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. Despite his government's progressivism it could not withstand the growing socialist movement or the wave of farmers' radicalism that was sweeping the country in the form of the United Farmers movement.

The election of 1920 resulted in a hung parliament, with 21 Liberals, 11 Labourites, 9 Farmer representatives, 8 Conservatives and 6 Independents. The Liberals remained in government, usually depending on outside support from the Farmers. They lost a vote of confidence in 1922 and were resoundingly defeated by the United Farmers of Manitoba (which soon renamed itself the Progressive Party of Manitoba) in election which followed.

Norris was re-elected in Lansdowne, and continued to serve as leader of the opposition until 1927. By now reconciled with the national Liberal Party, he also contested the riding of Winnipeg South in the federal election of 1925, but lost to Conservative Robert Rogers.

Norris stood down as Liberal leader before the 1927 election, and was again elected for Lansdowne later that year. He retired from politics in 1928.

Following Norris's retirement, the Manitoba Liberal Party was able to begin serious negotiations with Bracken's Progressives concerning a formal merger (Norris, because of his government's language policies, was unacceptable to Bracken's francophone supporters). The two parties were merged in 1932.

Norris died in 1936.