H. Ralph Maybank (August 17, 1890 – March 19, 1965) was a politician from

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba () is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at List of Manitoba genera ...

from 1932 to 1935, and in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 1935 to 1951. Maybank was a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

. The son of John Maybank and Marion Bates, Maybank was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 ...

. He served in the Royal Flying Corps during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was educated at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree (1919) and a law degree (1922). He was called to the Manitoba bar in 1923. In 1927, Maybank married Dora Boys. He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1927, in the

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

constituency. At the time, Winnipeg elected ten members via a

single transferable ballot The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vo ...

. Maybank, running as a Liberal, finished seventeenth on the first count and was not elected. From 1929 to 1931, Maybank served as a member of Winnipeg city council. In 1932, the governing

Progressive Party of Manitoba The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party in Manitoba between 1920 and 1932, which was the year of its dissolution. It developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM), an agrarian movement that became politically activ ...

formed an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party, and government members subsequently became known as Liberal-Progressives. Maybank again ran in Manitoba, finished tenth on the first count, and narrowly won election for the final seat. On the final count, he defeated

Leslie Morris Leslie Tom Morris (October 10, 1904 – November 13, 1964) was a Welsh-Canadian politician, journalist and longtime member of the Communist Party of Canada and, its front group, the Labor-Progressive Party. He was leader of the Ontario Labor ...

by 309 votes for tenth place. Had Morris been elected, he would have been the first

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

to serve in a provincial legislature in Canada. For the next three years, Maybank served as a backbench supporter of

John Bracken John Bracken (22 June 1883 – 18 March 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–194 ...

's government. He resigned his seat on October 1, 1935, to run for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1935 federal election. He elected for the riding of

Winnipeg South Centre Winnipeg South Centre () is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1979 and since 1988. Geography The district includes the neighb ...

, defeated

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

candidate William Walker Kennedy and

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social-democraticThese sources describe the CCF as ...

candidate

Stanley Knowles Stanley Howard Knowles (June 18, 1908 – June 9, 1997) was a Canadian parliamentarian. Knowles represented the riding of Winnipeg North Centre from 1942 to 1958 on behalf of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and again from 1962 ...

. The Liberal Party won this election, and Maybank served as a backbench supporter of

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

's government. Maybank defeated Kennedy a second time in the 1940 election, and defeated future

Manitoba Cooperative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Manitoba) (CCF), known informally as the Manitoba CCF, was a provincial branch of the national Canadian party by the same name. The national CCF was the dominant social-democratic party in Canada from th ...

leader

Lloyd Stinson Lloyd Cleworth Stinson (February 29, 1904 – August 28, 1976) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he ...

by 3,996 votes in the 1945 election. On November 30, 1947, he was promoted to

parliamentary assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

to the

Minister of National Health and Welfare The minister of health () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing health-focused government agencies including Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as enforcing the ''Canada ...

. On January 25, 1949, he was named assistant to the

Minister of Mines and Resources The position of Minister of Mines and Resources was a cabinet portfolio in Canada from 1936 to 1950. The mines portfolio had previously been that of the Minister of Mines, which was a portfolio adjunct to other ministries such as Inland Revenue ...

. Maybank defeated Progressive Conservative Gordon Churchill in the 1949 federal election. On January 24, 1951, he was named parliamentary assistant to the

Minister of Resources and Development Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. He resigned his seat on March 30, 1951. In the 1940s, Maybank led a revolt of Liberal Members of Parliament from western Canada against a proposed rise in the cross-border tariff. They were successful, and the tariff increase was set aside. In July 1951, he was named to the Manitoba Court of King's Bench. He died in Winnipeg while still a judge. There is currently a Ralph Maybank School in Winnipeg, and the surrounding area is known as Maybank. Maybank had three sons: John (deceased),

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

, and Micky (deceased).

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maybank, Ralph 1890 births 1965 deaths Judges in Manitoba Liberal Party of Canada MPs Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba Politicians from London, Ontario Winnipeg city councillors 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada