James Albert Manning Aikins
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The Honourable Sir James Albert Manning Aikins (December 10, 1851 – March 1, 1929) was a Manitoba politician. He was the leader of the Manitoba Conservative Party in the provincial election of 1915, and later served as the province's Lieutenant-Governor.
Aikins was born in Grahamsville, Peel County, Canada West (now Ontario) and educated at Toronto's Upper Canada College. His father James Cox Aikins was a prominent Canadian politician, serving as a cabinet minister from 1869 to 1873 and 1878 to 1882, and also serving as Manitoba's Lieutenant-Governor between 1882 and 1888.
The younger Aikins was educated at the University of Toronto, receiving his B.A. in 1875. He subsequently moved to Winnipeg with his father, and remained in the western city after the elder Aikins returned to Ontario.
From 1879 to 1896, Aikins was a counsel for the Department of Justice. In 1880, he was part of a committee which investigated the administration of justice in the Northwest Territories. Aikins was appointed counsel to the Manitoba government in 1900, and was responsible for drafting the Temperance Act passed by the government of Hugh John Macdonald. He also served as President of the Law Society of Manitoba, and was a solicitor for the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881 to 1911.
In 1911, Aikins was elected as a Conservative to the Canadian House of Commons, for the riding of Brandon.
The provincial Conservative government of Rodmond P. Roblin was forced to resign amid scandal in May 1915, and Aikins resigned his federal seat to lead the provincial party into the snap election which followed. His task was probably impossible. The new Liberal government of Tobias C. Norris was extremely popular, and successfully portrayed Aikins as the tool of more sinister figures in the Conservative Party. The Liberals won 40 seats in the election, against only five for the Tories. Aikins was resoundingly defeated in Brandon City.
The following year, Aikins was appointed Lt. Governor of Manitoba by Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden. He served in this position (which was largely ceremonial) from August 5, 1916 to October 25, 1926. While his initial appointment was greeted with skepticism, Aikins proved to be a popular office-holder. Even the Liberal-friendly Winnipeg Free Press approved of his re-appointment by Arthur Meighen in 1921.
In 1922, Aikins gave the Norris government permission to continue in office for a few weeks after being defeated in the house, such that important legislation could be passed before the next election.
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=42019)
| Preceded by: Douglas Colin Cameron | Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba 1916-1926 | Succeeded by: Theodore Arthur Burrows |
| Preceded by: Clifford Sifton | Member of Parliament for Brandon 1911-1915 | Succeeded by: Howard Primrose Whidden |