William "Scottie" Bryce (September 7, 1888 – June 17, 1963) 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 ...

, Canada. He briefly served as leader of the

Manitoba Co-operative 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 t ...

(CCF), although he never 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 ...

Biography

Bryce, born in

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, was educated at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and apprenticed as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

. He arrived in Canada in 1919 and farmed in Dugald, Manitoba. From 1941 to 1943, he served as president of the Manitoba Farmers Association. He was also a member of the National War Services Board (1942–43) and the Advisory Board of Dominion Beef Committee. Bryce was first elected to 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 ...

in a 1943

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, during a period of increased popularity for the federal

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 ...

. Running in the riding of Selkirk, Bryce defeated his Liberal opponent Charles Fillmore by about 5500 votes. He was re-elected by narrower margins in the general elections of

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. He was a leading advocate for farmer's concerns during his time in parliament, and generally avoided ideological debates. Bryce's tenure as provincial CCF leader was an anomaly in the party's history. He was chosen leader in 1952 due to concerns that his federal riding would be eliminated by redistribution. As it happened, Bryce decided to stay in federal politics and

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 ...

was chosen provincial leader in 1953. Bryce does not appear to have played a significant role in the operations of the provincial party. Bryce was defeated by Liberal Robert Wood in the federal election of 1953, but won a by-election after Wood's death the following year. He was re-elected in the 1957 election, but fell to Progressive Conservative Eric Stefanson in

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

's landslide victory of

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. In the 1959 provincial election, Bryce ran for the CCF in the riding of Selkirk but placed third, receiving only 872 votes out of about 4400 cast. He retired from politics after this. Bryce died at his

Selkirk, Manitoba Selkirk is a city in the western Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba, located on the Red River of the North, Red River about northeast of Winnipeg, the provincial capital. It has a population of 10,504 as of the 20 ...

home in 1963."Obituaries.", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', Wednesday, June 19, 1963, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, William 1888 births Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba Canadian socialists Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPs Leaders of the Manitoba CCF/NDP 1963 deaths British emigrants to Canada 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada