View source for Humphrey Mitchell

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| name                = Humphrey Mitchell
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|Labour|PC|size=100%}}
| image               = Humphrey Mitchell.jpg
| caption             = Mitchell in the mid-1940s.
| imagesize           = 
| office1             = [[Minister of Labour (Canada)|Minister of Labour]]
| term_start1         = 1941
| term_end1           = 1950
| predecessor1        = [[Norman Alexander McLarty]]
| successor1          = [[Paul Martin Sr.]] (acting)
| primeminister1      = [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]]
| riding2             = [[Welland (electoral district)|Welland]]
| parliament2         = Canadian
| term_start2         = 1942
| term_end2           = 1950
| predecessor2        = [[Arthur Damude]]
| successor2          = [[William Hector McMillan]]
| riding3             = [[Hamilton East (federal electoral district)|Hamilton East]]
| parliament3         = Canadian
| term_start3         = 1931
| term_end3           = 1935
| predecessor3        = [[George Rennie (Canadian politician)|George Rennie]]
| successor3          = [[Albert A. Brown]]
| primeminister3      = [[R. B. Bennett]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1894|09|09}}
| birth_place         = 
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1950|08|01|1894|09|09}}
| death_place         = 
| profession          = Land surveyor
| alma_mater          = 
| party               = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]–[[Labour Party of Canada|Labour]]
| religion            = 
| residence           = 
| footnotes           = 
| spouse              =
| module              = 
}}

'''Humphrey Mitchell''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} (September 9, 1894 &ndash; August 1, 1950) was a [[Canadian]] politician and [[trade union]]ist.

== Life and career ==
A land surveyor employed with [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]] Hydro, Mitchell was active with the union movement in the city. Upon the death of [[Hamilton East (federal electoral district)|Hamilton East]]'s [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), [[George Septimus Rennie]] in 1931, Mitchell was approached to run in the [[by-election]] to fill the seat as a [[Labour Party of Canada|Labour]] candidate. Hamilton East was a strong [[working class]] riding that had elected Labour candidates to the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] and to city council.

The [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberals]], in [[parliamentary opposition|opposition]] having lost the [[1930 Canadian federal election|previous year's general election]] did not run a candidate against Mitchell in order to avoid dividing the anti-Conservative vote. Given future events, it is also possible Liberal party leaders believed that Mitchell would support the Liberal Party unofficially if elected.

Mitchell won the by-election and entered the [[House of Commons of Canada]]. He did not get along well with the [[parliamentary rump|rump]] of Independent Labour MPs led informally by [[J.S. Woodsworth]] and referred to as the "[[Ginger Group]]". While Mitchell attended the "founding meeting" of the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] in [[William Irvine (Canadian politician)|William Irvine]]'s office, he refused to join the new party when Labour MPs joined with farmers groups, [[socialist]] groups and others to officially launch the CCF in 1932 and refused to work with its supporters in Parliament.

In the [[1935 Canadian federal election|1935 general election]], the CCF ran a candidate in Hamilton East against Mitchell (the Liberals again ran no candidate). The use of the [[First-past-the-post voting|first past the post]] election system and the split in the anti-Tory vote resulted in the Conservative candidate winning, despite a country-wide trend against the Conservatives.

Mitchell ran for and was acclaimed to the Hamilton Board of Education as a school trustee that December.

Mitchell did not run in the [[1940 Canadian federal election|1940 election]]. Following the death of [[Welland (electoral district)|Welland]]'s Liberal MP in late 1941, [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] appointed Mitchell to the [[Canadian Cabinet|Cabinet]] as [[Minister of Labour (Canada)|Minister of Labour]]. Mitchell was elected shortly thereafter as the MP for Welland. He served as Welland's MP and as Labour minister in the governments of King and [[Louis St. Laurent]] until his death in 1950.

Mitchell became Labour minister just over a year after the introduction of [[unemployment insurance]] in Canada and oversaw the early implementation and expansion of the program. He also oversaw the mobilization of the labour force during [[World War II]] and widespread involvement of women in war production.

The department of labour he led had responsibility for immigration so he played a role in the controversial deportation and [[Japanese-Canadian internment|internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Canadians]] during World War II.

== Electoral record ==
{{1949 Canadian federal election/Welland}}
{{1945 Canadian federal election/Welland}}
{{CANelec/top|CA|9 February 1942|by=yes|percent=yes|change=yes|Niagara Centre|Welland}}
{{CANelec/note|On Mr. Damude's death, 15 September 1941|}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Humphrey Mitchell|11,875|42.3|-10.2}}<ref>"Final Standings in By-Elections", ''Toronto Daily Star'', February 10, 1942</ref>
{{CANelec|CA|Independent|J. Douglas Watt|10,106|36.0|}}
{{CANelec|CA|CCF|Mark Kriluk|6,122|21.8|+14.1}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|28,103|100.0}}
|}
{{election table|title=Summary of the December 2, 1935 [[Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board|Hamilton Board of Education]] Ward 5 Trustee Election}}
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Candidate
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Affiliation
!colspan="2"|Popular vote
!rowspan="2"|[[File:Yes check.svg|14px]] Elected?
|-
! Votes
! %
|-
{{Canadian party colour|HAM|Labour|row}}
| style="text-align:left;" | '''Humphrey Mitchell''' 
| style="text-align:right;" | [[Labour candidates and parties in Canada|Independent Liberal-Labour]]
!colspan="2" style="text-align:right;" |Acclaimed
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Yes check.svg|14px]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="3" |'''Total votes'''
| style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="1" |
| style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" |
|- 
| style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="3" |'''Registered voters'''
| style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" |
| style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="1" |
| style="text-align:left;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="1" |
|- 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="6" |<small>Note: Candidate campaign colours are used as a visual differentiation between candidates and to indicate affiliation.</small>
|- 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="13" |'''Sources:''' <small>"Five School Trustees Are Not Opposed", ''Hamilton Spectator'', November 22, 1935, pp.&nbsp;7,17.</small>
|}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1935}}
{{CANelec|CA|Conservative (historical)|[[Albert A. Brown]] | 10,078   }}
{{CANelec|CA|Labour|Humphrey Mitchell  |  7,288   }}
{{CANelec|CA|Reconstruction|Donald A. Clarke  | 6,197   }}
{{CANelec|CA|CCF|John Mitchell | 4,506   }}
|}
On Mr. Rennie's death, 13 October 1930:
{{CanElec1-by|10 August 1931}}
{{CANelec|CA|Labour|Humphrey Mitchell  | 10,919   }}
{{CANelec|CA|Conservative (historical)|Melville Robinson | 7,263   }}
{{CANelec|CA|Independent|William Herbert Connor  | 507   }}
{{end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=1420}}

{{CA-Ministers of Labour}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Humphrey}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Labour MPs in Canada]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]