George Black (Canadian politician)
George Black (April 10 1873 - August 23 1965) was a Yukon administrator and politician. He went to Yukon in 1898 during the Gold Rush and prospected for gold, making and losing a fortune and losing it when his claim was swept away in a flood before establishing a law practice in Dawson City. He was elected to the Yukon council in 1905 and first ran for the Canadian House of Commons in 1908 but was defeated.
In the 1911 Canadian election he was H.H. Stevens' campaign manager and was rewarded by the government of Robert Laird Borden by being appointed to the position of Commissioner of the Yukon. As Commissioner from 1912 to 1915, he tried to bring in legislation to protect miners, loggers and others who worked for companies that went bankrupt.
During World War I, Black recruited a regiment from the Yukon to fight in the war and became the company's Captain and was wounded in combat.
Following the war he settled in British Columbia in 1919 and run unsuccessfully for a seat in the provincial legislature.
He first won a seat in Parliament in the 1921 Canadian election as a Conservative. As an MP he introduced legislation to give Yukoners the right to trial by jury and to protect mining titles.
After the Tories won the 1930 Canadian election the new Prime Minister of Canada, R.B. Bennett, nominated Black to be Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons. As Speaker he kept a .22 caliber pistol in his chambers which he used to shoot rabbits on Parliament Hill. Black's personal and financial life were strained during the Great Depression and he had a nervous breakdown in the summer of 1934. He went to England where he was committed to a psychiatric hospital. Being unavailable to preside over the final session of the 17th Parliament he resigned prior to its commencement in January 1935. Since Black was unfit to run in the 1935 Canadian election his wife, Martha Louise Black ran in his place as an Independent Conservative and held the seat becoming the second woman elected to the House of Commons (the first being Agnes Macphail).
Black was released from hospital in 1936 and moved to Vancouver to recuperate. Martha stepped aside and allowed Black to run for the Yukon seat in the 1940 Canadian election and was returned to Parliament where remained until the 1949 Canadian election which he did not contest. He attempted to recapture his seat in the 1953 Canadian election but was unsuccessful.
| Preceded by: Rodolphe Lemieux 1922-1930 | Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons 1930-1935 | Followed by: James Langstaff Bowman 1935-1936 |