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The Straight Furrow': The Life Of George S Henry, Ontario's Unknown Premier, Donald Ross Spanner

Digitized Theses

The life of George S. Henry and his management of the Ontario economy as Conservative premier (1930-1934) has been unjustifiably ignored by academics. Henry's unique upbringing --his Methodist canons of individualism, his Pelmanist notions of efficiency, and his obsession with economic development--would shape his career throughout the 1920s when, as Highways minister, he brought uniformity and standardization to the province's complex road system. As premier, these principles and values would also have a significant impact upon how Ontario was governed in the early depression years.;Throughout Henry's premiership, his government's austere attitude towards unemployment was determined by three factors: a faith …