Royal Lethington (Pat) Maitland (January 9, 1889 – March 28, 1946) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and the

Attorney General of British Columbia The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney general ...

in the coalition government of

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John Hart. He also served as national president of the

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First term in the British Columbia Legislature

Maitland was first elected to the

British Columbia Legislature The Parliament of British Columbia is made of two elements: the King in Right of British Columbia, represented by the Lieutenant Governor, and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (which meets at the British Columbia Parliament Building ...

as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MLA for

Vancouver City Vancouver City was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1917. This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Burrard riding. It was abolished in 1914 wh ...

in the 1928 general election. By the time of the 1933 provincial election, the Conservative government of Premier Simon Fraser Tolmie had collapsed into rival factions. Maitland did not stand for re-election.

Return to the Legislature as Leader of the Official Opposition

Maitland returned to office in the 1937 general election from the riding of

Vancouver-Point Grey Vancouver-Point Grey is a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was first contested in the 1933 British Columbia general election, general election of 1933. It was ...

. The next year, upon the death of

Frank Porter Patterson Frank Porter Patterson (December 24, 1876 – February 10, 1938) was a physician and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Dewdney in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1937 to 1938 as a Conservative. Patterso ...

, the leader of the Conservative Party, Maitland became party leader and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. His challenge was to rebuild the moribund

British Columbia Conservative Party The Conservative Party of British Columbia is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. In the early half of the 20th century, the Conservatives competed with the British Columbia Liberal Party for power in the province. Since ...

, which had split into two and collapsed in 1933 under Tolmie's leadership.

Joins Coalition Government of John Hart

In the 1941 provincial election, Maitland led the Conservatives to a strong finish with 30.91 per cent of the vote and 12 seats, though with the

CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the am ...

doubling its seats the party was consigned to third place. The Liberal government of

Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Thomas Dufferin "Duff" Pattullo (January 19, 1873 – March 30, 1956) was the 22nd premier of British Columbia from 1933 to 1941. Early life and early political career Born in Woodstock, Ontario, into a family of Scottish ancestry, Pattullo ...

was reduced to a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in t ...

and though it won the greatest number of seats actually received fewer votes than the CCF. The Liberal Party pressured Pattullo to form a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

with the Conservatives in order to forestall the government's collapse and a possible CCF victory. Pattullo refused and was replaced as Liberal leader and Premier by John Hart who was willing to form a coalition. Maitland's Conservatives joined the government, obtaining three seats in Cabinet to the Liberals' five. Maitland became

and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Four years later, in the 1945 provincial election, Maitland's Conservatives contested the election jointly with the Liberals and were re-elected.

Legal career

Maitland was a prominent criminal lawyer and law professor, and was active in the

. He spent part of his career (1915 to 1919) as a city prosecutor in Vancouver. He served as President of the Association in 1943–1944, while he was Attorney General.

Death

Maitland died from influenza at

Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver General Hospital (locally known as VGH, or Vancouver General) is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical facilit ...

on March 28, 1946, the year after his successful participation in the 1945 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland, Royal 1889 births 1946 deaths British Columbia Conservative Party politicians British Columbia Conservative Party MLAs Attorneys General of British Columbia British Columbia Conservative Party leaders 20th-century Canadian lawyers Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian Bar Association Presidents