# 20th Parliament of Ontario

The 20th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was in session from October 6, 1937, until June 30, 1943, just prior to the 1943 general election. The majority party was the Ontario Liberal Party led by Mitchell Hepburn.
In 1938, the title "Member of Provincial Parliament", abbreviated as "MPP", was officially adopted by the members of the legislative assembly.
Hepburn resigned as Premier in October 1942, remaining party leader, and Gordon Daniel Conant became Premier. In 1943, Harry Nixon became both party leader and Premier after a leadership convention was held for the provincial Liberal party.
Norman Otto Hipel served as speaker for the assembly until September 2, 1938. James Howard Clark replaced Hipel as speaker.

## Members of the Assembly

| Riding | Member | Party | First elected / previously elected |
| Addington | William David Black | Conservative | 1911 |
| Algoma—Manitoulin | Wilfred Lynn Miller | Liberal | 1934 |
| Beaches | Thomas Alexander Murphy | Conservative | 1926 |
| Bellwoods | Arthur Wentworth Roebuck | Liberal | 1934 |
| Bracondale | Lionel Pretoria Conacher | Liberal | 1937 |
| Brant | Harry Corwin Nixon | Liberal | 1919 |
| Brantford | Morrison Mann MacBride | Independent-Liberal | 1919, 1934 |
| Brantford | Louis Hagey (1938) | Liberal | 1938 |
| Bruce | John William Sinclair | Liberal | 1934 |
| Carleton | Adam Holland Acres | Conservative | 1923 |
| Cochrane North | Joseph-Anaclet Habel | Liberal | 1934 |
| Cochrane South | Charles Vincent Gallagher | Liberal | 1937 |
| Dovercourt | William Duckworth | Conservative | 1934 |
| Dufferin—Simcoe | Alfred Wallace Downer | Conservative | 1937 |
| Durham | Cecil George Mercer | Liberal | 1937 |
| Eglinton | Harold James Kirby | Liberal | 1934 |
| Elgin | Mitchell Frederick Hepburn | Liberal | 1934 |
| Essex North | Adélard Charles Trottier | Liberal | 1934 |
| Essex South | Charles George Fletcher | Liberal | 1926, 1937 |
| Fort William | Franklin Harford Spence | Conservative | 1923, 1937 |
| Glengarry | Edmund MacGillivray | Liberal | 1937 |
| Grenville—Dundas | George Holmes Challies | Conservative | 1929 |
| Grey North | Roland Patterson | Liberal-Progressive | 1934 |
| Grey South | Farquhar Robert Oliver | United Farmers | 1926 |
| Grey South | Farquhar Robert Oliver | Liberal | 1926 |
| Haldimand—Norfolk | Eric William Blake Cross | Liberal | 1937 |
| Halton | Thomas Aston Blakelock | Liberal | 1929 |
| Hamilton Centre | William Frederick Schwenger | Liberal | 1934 |
| Hamilton Centre | John Newlands (1938) | Liberal | 1938 |
| Hamilton East | John P. MacKay | Liberal | 1937 |
| Hamilton—Wentworth | Thomas Baker McQuesten | Liberal | 1934 |
| Hastings East | Harold Edward Welsh | Conservative | 1936 |
| Hastings West | Richard Duke Arnott | Conservative | 1937 |
| High Park | William Alexander Baird | Conservative | 1926 |
| Huron | James Simpson Ballantyne | Liberal | 1934 |
| Huron—Bruce | Charles Alexander Robertson | Liberal | 1926 |
| Kenora | Peter Heenan | Liberal | 1919, 1934 |
| Kent East | Douglas Munro Campbell | Liberal-Progressive | 1934 |
| Kent West | Arthur St. Clair Gordon | Liberal | 1934 |
| Kingston | Thomas Ashmore Kidd | Conservative | 1926 |
| Lambton East | Milton Duncan McVicar | Liberal | 1934 |
| Lambton East | Charles Oliver Fairbank (1938) | Liberal | 1938 |
| Lambton West | William Guthrie | Liberal | 1934 |
| Lanark | George Henry Doucett | Conservative | 1937 |
| Leeds | Walter Bain Reynolds | Conservative | 1937 |
| Lincoln | Archibald Judson Haines | Liberal | 1937 |
| London | Archibald Stuart Duncan | Liberal | 1934 |
| Middlesex North | John Willard Freeborn | Liberal | 1919, 1934 |
| Middlesex South | Charles Maitland MacFie | Liberal | 1934 |
| Muskoka—Ontario | James Francis Kelly | Liberal | 1934 |
| Niagara Falls | William Houck | Liberal | 1934 |
| Nipissing | Joseph Elie Cholette | Liberal | 1937 |
| Northumberland | Harold Norman Carr | Liberal | 1934 |
| Ontario | Gordon Daniel Conant | Liberal | 1937 |
| Ottawa East | Marie Charles Denis Paul Leduc | Liberal | 1934 |
| Ottawa East | Robert Laurier (1940) | Liberal | 1940 |
| Ottawa South | George Harrison Dunbar | Conservative | 1937 |
| Oxford | Patrick Michael Dewan | Liberal | 1934 |
| Parkdale | Frederick George McBrien | Conservative | 1923, 1937 |
| Parkdale | William James Stewart (1938) | Conservative | 1938 |
| Parry Sound | Milton Taylor Armstrong | Liberal | 1934 |
| Peel | Thomas Laird Kennedy | Conservative | 1919, 1937 |
| Perth | William Angus Dickson | Liberal | 1934 |
| Peterborough | Alexander Leslie Elliott | Liberal | 1937 |
| Port Arthur | Charles Winnans Cox | Liberal | 1934 |
| Prescott | Aurélien Bélanger | Liberal | 1923, 1934 |
| Prince Edward—Lennox | James de Congalton Hepburn | Conservative | 1937 |
| Rainy River | Randolph George Croome | Liberal | 1934 |
| Renfrew North | John Courtland Bradley | Liberal | 1934 |
| Renfrew South | Thomas Patrick Murray | Liberal | 1929 |
| Riverdale | William Summerville | Conservative | 1937 |
| Russell | Romeo Bégin | Liberal | 1937 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | Richard McMeekin | Liberal | 1937 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | Colin Alexander Campbell (1937) | Liberal | 1937 |
| Simcoe Centre | Leonard Jennett Simpson | Liberal | 1929 |
| Simcoe Centre | Duncan McArthur (1940) | Liberal | 1940 |
| Simcoe East | William Finlayson | Conservative | 1923, 1937 |
| Simcoe East | George Alexander Drew (1939) | Conservative | 1939 |
| St. Andrew | John Judah Glass | Liberal | 1934 |
| St. David | Allan Austin Lamport | Liberal | 1937 |
| St. George | Ian Thomas Strachan | Liberal | 1934 |
| St. Patrick | Frederick Fraser Hunter | Liberal | 1934 |
| Stormont | Fergus Beck Brownridge | Liberal | 1934 |
| Sudbury | James Maxwell Cooper | Liberal | 1937 |
| Timiskaming | William Glennie Nixon | Liberal | 1934 |
| Victoria | Leslie Miscampbell Frost | Conservative | 1937 |
| Waterloo North | Justus Albert Smith | Liberal | 1937 |
| Waterloo South | Norman Otto Hipel | Liberal | 1930 |
| Welland | Edward James Anderson | Liberal | 1934 |
| Wellington North | Ross Atkinson McEwing | Liberal | 1937 |
| Wellington South | James Harold King | Liberal | 1934 |
| Wentworth | George Henry Bethune | Liberal | 1934 |
| Windsor—Sandwich | James Howard Clark | Liberal | 1934 |
| Windsor—Walkerville | David Arnold Croll | Liberal | 1934 |
| Woodbine | Goldwin Corlett Elgie | Conservative | 1934 |
| York East | George Stewart Henry | Conservative | 1913 |
| York North | Morgan Baker | Liberal | 1934 |
| York South | Leopold Macaulay | Conservative | 1926 |
| York West | William James Gardhouse | Liberal | 1934 |

## Timeline

20th Legislative Assembly of Ontario - Movement in seats held (1937–1943) :
| Party | Party | 1937 | Gain/(loss) due to | Gain/(loss) due to | Gain/(loss) due to | Gain/(loss) due to | Gain/(loss) due to | 1943 |
| Party | Party | 1937 | Changed party | Death in office | Resignation as MPP | Byelection gain | Byelection hold | 1943 |
| | Liberal | 62 | 2 | (4) | (7) | 1 | 5 | 59 |
| | Conservative | 23 | | (4) | (2) | | 2 | 19 |
| | Liberal–Progressive | 3 | (1) | | | | | 2 |
| | United Farmers | 1 | (1) | | | | | – |
| | Independent-Liberal | 1 | | (1) | | | | – |
| | Vacant | – | | 5 | 5 | | | 10 |
| Total | Total | 90 | – | (4) | (4) | 1 | 7 | 90 |
Changes in seats held (1937–1943) :
| Seat | Before | Before | Before | Before | Change | Change | Change |
| Seat | Date | Member | Party | Reason | Date | Member | Party |
| Sault Ste. Marie | October 20, 1937 | Richard McMeekin | █ Liberal | Resigned to allow Campbell to enter provincial politics | November 23, 1937 | Colin Alexander Campbell | █ Liberal |
| Hamilton Centre | January 26, 1938 | William Frederick Schwenger | █ Liberal | Appointed to Bench | March 2, 1938 | John Newlands | █ Liberal |
| Lambton East | February 3, 1938 | Milton Duncan McVicar | █ Liberal | Died in office | March 22, 1938 | Charles Oliver Fairbank | █ Liberal |
| Brantford | June 5, 1938 | Morrison Mann MacBride | █ Independent-Liberal | Died in office | July 20, 1938 | Louis Hagey | █ Liberal |
| Parkdale | July 2, 1938 | Fred McBrien | █ Conservative | Died in office | October 5, 1938 | William James Stewart | █ Conservative |
| Simcoe East | January 13, 1939 | William Finlayson | █ Conservative | Resigned to enable Drew to gain seat as new party leader | February 14, 1939 | George Drew | █ Conservative |
| Kingston | March 7, 1940 | Thomas Ashmore Kidd | █ Conservative | Chose to stand in Kingston City in the 1940 federal election | | | █ Vacant |
| Bellwoods | March 8, 1940 | Arthur Wentworth Roebuck | █ Liberal | Chose to stand in Trinity in the 1940 federal election | | | █ Vacant |
| Huron—Bruce | March 22, 1940 | Charles Alexander Robertson | █ Liberal | Died in office | | | █ Vacant |
| Cochrane South | May 28, 1940 | Charles Vincent Gallagher | █ Liberal | Died in office | | | █ Vacant |
| High Park | May 30, 1940 | William Alexander Baird | █ Conservative | Died in office | | | █ Vacant |
| Simcoe Centre | August 18, 1940 | Leonard Jennett Simpson | █ Liberal | Died in office | October 23, 1940 | Duncan McArthur | █ Liberal |
| Ottawa East | September 27, 1940 | Paul Leduc | █ Liberal | Appointed Registrar of Supreme Court of Canada | November 27, 1940 | Robert Laurier | █ Liberal |
| Grey South | January 23, 1941 | Farquhar Oliver | █ United Farmers | Appointed Minister of Public Works | February 24, 1941 | Farquhar Robert Oliver | █ Liberal |
| Lincoln | January 10, 1942 | Archibald Judson Haines | █ Liberal | Resigned, in protest of a liquor licence being issued despite prior guarantees that it would not happen. | | | █ Vacant |
| Fort William | January 16, 1943 | Franklin Harford Spence | █ Conservative | Died in office | | | █ Vacant |
| Ontario | May 18, 1943 | Gordon Daniel Conant | █ Liberal | Appointed Master of the Supreme Court of Ontario. | | | █ Vacant |
| Hastings East | May 20, 1943 | Harold Edward Welsh | █ Conservative | Died in office, having drowned while fishing in Algonquin Provincial Park. | | | █ Vacant |
| St. George | June 1, 1943 | Ian Thomas Strachan | █ Liberal | Appointed Registrar of Deeds for the City of Toronto. | | | █ Vacant |