Joseph Pattulo Earngey (February 9, 1872 – May 26, 1939) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and politician."J. P. Earngey, Kenora, Dies". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', May 27, 1939. He served as mayor of the town of

Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The history of the name exten ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

from 1915 to 1918, and as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 1926 to 1929.

Background

Born and raised near

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, Earngey learned the printing trade before moving to what was then known as Rat Portage, where he launched the '' Rat Portage Miner'' in 1897. He acquired the competing ''The News'', merging the two publications into one under the name ''Rat Portage Miner and News'' in 1904, and renaming it to the '' Kenora Miner and News'' when the town was renamed. He owned the publication until his death in 1939, and it still operates today.

Political career

Earngey served on Kenora's town council from 1911 to 1914, and as mayor from 1915 to 1918. In 1922, he served as one of Ontario's representatives to the Canada-Ontario-Manitoba Tripartite Agreement committee regarding water management on the

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (; ) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,552 islands and of shoreline. It is fed by t ...

. In 1926, he was selected as the Ontario Conservative Party's candidate for

in the

1926 Ontario general election The 1926 Ontario general election was the 17th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on December 1, 1926, to elect the 112 Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). Campaign The United Farmers ...

. He won the election, and served in the 17th Parliament of Ontario. In 1928, he was selected by premier

Howard Ferguson George Howard Ferguson (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth premier of Ontario, from 1923 to 1930. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to ...

to move the government's motion to accept the

Speech from the Throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a Legislative session, session is opened. ...

. In his speech, he applauded the government's decisions on the development of the English River corridor, and spoke in support of the expansion of rail service in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

. During the session, he introduced a bill to support the construction of a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line from Kenora to the mining development site at Red Lake, but soon withdrew the bill for unspecified reasons. At the Conservative party convention in 1928, he spoke in support of the establishment of an educational

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

for students in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with di ...

. During the final session of the 17th parliament, he opposed the construction of a railway line northerly from Goldpines, on the grounds that any new transportation lines into the Patricia District should be built directly from Kenora. Earngey ran for reelection in the

1929 Ontario general election The 1929 Ontario general election was the 18th general election held in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on October 30, 1929, to elect the 112 Members of the 18th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). Campaign Every party, inclu ...

, but lost to Labour candidate Earl Hutchinson. The Conservative Party had some hope that votes for Earngey in Red Lake would overcome his loss in the town of Kenora itself, although the final certified results from Red Lake actually widened Hutchinson's margin of victory from 350 votes to 404. During Hutchinson's term in the legislature, he sued the ''Kenora Daily Miner and News'' for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

, with the suit settled out of court."Kenora Libel Action Settled Out of Court". '' The Globe'', April 7, 1932.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earngey, Joseph 1872 births 1939 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Mayors of Kenora 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario