Robert Alexander Hoey (September 12, 1883 – November 15, 1965) was a politician in

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 ...

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. He was a member of 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 1921 to 1925, 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 1927 to 1936, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government of John Bracken. Hoey was born in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

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, and came to Canada in 1909. He was educated at Wesley College and Manitoba College in

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 ...

and became a pioneer worker in the farmer's movement. He served as provincial director of the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM) in 1918, and worked as the UFM's field secretary from 1919 to 1921. He was elected to the House of Commons in Canada's federal election of 1921 as a Progressive candidate, defeating Liberal candidate Thomas Molloy by 1,397 votes in the riding of Springfield. He served on the opposition benches of parliament for the next four years, and did not seek re-election in 1925. He returned to farm organization after leaving the House of Commons in 1925, taking part in the organization of the Western Wheat Pools. The United Farmers of Manitoba unexpectedly won a government majority in the 1922 provincial election, and formed government as the

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 ...

. Hoey was asked to become Premier of Manitoba but declined. John Bracken was then selected in his place. On April 28, 1927, Hoey joined Bracken's provincial government as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

. He did not hold a seat in the legislature at the time but was a prominent campaigner for the Progressive Party in the 1927 provincial election, and defeated independent incumbent Donald A. Ross by 710 votes in the St. Clements constituency. He was easily returned in the 1932 election and served as Minister of Education until the end of his nine-year tenure in the legislature. He also served as acting

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

from February 22 to May 18, 1929. In 1932, Hoey played a prominent role in negotiations between Manitoba's Progressive and Liberal parties, which resulted in a Liberal-Progressive electoral alliance. The alliance eventually became a permanent partnership, and government members became known as " Liberal-Progressives." Hoey was defeated in the 1936 provincial election, losing to

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

candidate Herbert Sulkers by 665 votes. After his electoral defeat in 1936, he became Superintendent of Welfare and Training in the Indian Affairs Branch of the federal Department of Mines and Resources. He served in that position until March 1945, when he became Director of the Indian Affairs Branch, a position that he held until 1948. Hoey was appointed to a seat on the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

Council in 1946, and served to 1951.

References

External links

Manitoba Historical Society biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoey, Robert 1883 births 1965 deaths 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Progressive Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba People from Enniskillen Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Progressive Party of Manitoba MLAs Irish emigrants to Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada