PEIs best premier - Quarter-finals end tomorrow

I’m disappointed with the low numbers of votes in this round so far. We had just over 40 votes in the preliminary round, but only 11 so far – between the two match-ups!

The voting in this round will close late tomorrow evening, so get your votes in!

Alex Campbell v. Walter Jones – vote here

Alex B. Campbell (wiki/gov.pe.ca)

As I’ve said, the younger Campbell would be my personal choice for the Island’s greatest premier – and not just because he’s the only remain native of my home town Summerside. Although his premiership ended before I was born, Campbell had a sterling reputation in my Liberal family. Generally acknowledged as a forward-thinking visionary, Campbell had a bigger vision for the Island than anyone who’s come before or after him. He left a permanent mark on Island politics through the establishment of restrictions of absentee ownership of land, the development of consolidated schools in rural PEI and the establishment of UPEI by combining the two denominational post-secondary institutions that were in Charlottetown.

J. Walter Jones (wiki/gov.pe.ca)

“Farmer Jones” would not be my choice for best premier, but he clearly was a passionate promoter of Island agriculture. Credited with starting the seed potato industry on PEI, he also played an important role in the silver fox farming industry. He first ran for elected office as a Farmer-Progressive candidate in the 1921 federal election, but would become a Liberal in the 1935 sweep, taking the Premier’s chair eight years later after Alex’s father Thane took a seat on the bench. While not a friend of organized labour, Jones does get some credit in my books for being the Premier to finally bring an end to prohibition in the Garden Province (which was of course the last in Canada to do so).

Angus MacLean v. James Stewart – vote here

Angus MacLean (wiki/gov.pe.ca)

MacLean had a variety of jobs in his long life – fighter pilot, MP, Minsiter of Fisheries, Postmaster General, Premier and blueberry farmer. Also, he served as a mentor to a future Premier, and one of the leaders in this contest so far, Pat Binns. A distant relative of mine (and no, not everyone on PEI is related, MacLean is fondly remembered by many Islanders for his devotion to the traditional Island way of life, despite only being Premier for just over two years. He fought suburban sprawl (something later Premiers should have emulated), even bringing in a moratorium on shopping malls.

James Stewart (wiki/gov.pe.ca)

I’m away from a library or my books on Island history, so I can’t do much further research on Stewart, so I’ll just repeat what I wrote last week. I gotta give the guy credit for being the first Island premier to serve two separate terms and having the cojones to fight the prohibitionists.

Stewart became Premier in 1923 when he defeated John Howatt Bell’s Liberals. He would lose his post in 1927 for being – god forbid! – unwilling to bring in complete prohibition. Tenaciously he stuck around for another term as Leader of the Opposition and became Premier for a second time in 1931. He would press Ottawa for a better deal to help the Island deal with the Depression, but the job took a toll on his health and he would die two years later.