Just as Canada’s triumphs in World War I helped to shape our country, the guidance of Ontario’s premier during the war years – Sir William Howard Hearst – helped to mould our province into what it is today.

Hearst, Ontario’s seventh premier, was elected to the Ontario Legislature as the Conservative MPP for Sault Ste. Marie in 1908. He served in the cabinet of Premier James Whitney as the Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines – a portfolio that I also held as a member of the Mike Harris Government (though it was renamed the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines by then).

In his capacity as Minister, Hearst negotiated the addition of a large portion of the Keewatin territory to Ontario. Ontario’s borders expanded to the north-west taking in lands north of Thunder Bay, most of which is still known as the Kenora district. This acquisition of land more than doubled the size of this great province and it re-drew the province’s boundary lines to what we see today.

Hearst succeeded Whitney as Premier of Ontario, following Whitney’s untimely death just after the 1914 election and as war was breaking out in Europe. Hearst was a strong supporter of the war effort, and was knighted for his contributions in 1917. Hearst, however, also left his mark in many ways at home in addition to abroad.

Most notably, and most importantly, Hearst enfranchised women – giving them the right to vote in Ontario provincial elections for the first time. Ontario was the fifth Canadian province to do so, following the four western provinces – Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, respectively. The enfranchisement of women during Hearst’s administration set the stage for trailblazers like Agnes Macphail – the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s first woman MPP – and many more to come.

Building upon the achievements of Premier Whitney’s administration, when Ontario’s first publicly owned hydroelectric powersystem was created, Hearst authorized the construction of the Queenston hydroelectric plant – the largest in the world at the time – here in the Niagara region, and established Ontario Hydro as the province’s primary producer of electricity.

Other notable decisions Hearst made as Premier include putting a comprehensive workers compensation program into operation, creating a Ministry of Labour, and initiating the teaching of agriculture in schools.

Hearst’s run as Premier and as a member of the Legislative Assembly ended in with the 1919 election, when his Conservatives lost to Ernest Drury and the fledgling Farmer-Labour Coalition (a precursor to today’s NDP).

The end of his political career came less than a year after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the end of World War I. The previous five years had been a tumultuous time for Canadians overseas and a pivotal time at home in Ontario’s history.