page_title: William Finlayson (Canadian politician)
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: William Finlayson (Canadian politician) / Political career
caption_attribution_description: A map and accompanying text showing lands affected in 1927 Ontario initiative for migrating farmers from barren lands to the w:Clay Belt of w:Northern Ontario
context_page_description: William Finlayson was an Ontario lawyer, cabinet minister and political figure.
context_section_description: Finlayson was mayor of Midland, Ontario from 1906 to 1907.
  He represented Simcoe East in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1923 to 1934 and from 1937 to 1939 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
  in 1926, Finlayson became the Minister of Lands and Forests in the government of Howard Ferguson, which he would continue to hold until 1934. Prior to his appointment, Ernest H. Finlayson (his half-brother and the head of the Dominion Forest Service since 1925) gave him an intensive crash-course in silviculture, which "resulted in... [Minister Finlayson]... stepping into the job with, perhaps, a greater knowledge of the principles of forestry than has probably been the case with any other non-technical man who has occupied a Cabinet post." In 1927, Finlayson declared to the Legislature:
  As Minister, he was responsible for the passage of several Acts relating to forestry in Ontario (although their effectiveness has since been questioned):
  The Forestry Act, 1927 (which provided for the expropriation of lands for forestry purposes, and for the moving of inhabitants of barren lands (such as the Trent watershed) to other agricultural areas, including the Great Clay Belt)
  The Provincial Forests Act, 1929 (which created provincial Forest Reserves)
  The Pulpwood Conservation Act, 1929 (which required lumber companies to institute reforestation plans for the areas they held under license)
  In addition to the Department of Lands and Forests, he was also assigned responsibility for the Department of Northern Development. He also became an advocate for the expansion of the provincial parks system — probably the first influential politician in the Province to do so — and was instrumental in swapping timber limits with the Spanish River Company in order to save the natural beauty of Trout Lake (later renamed as O.S.A. Lake), which was incorporated in 1964 into the newly created Killarney Provincial Park.
  Losing his seat in 1934, he was subsequently reelected in 1937. In 1939, he resigned his seat in order to enable George Drew, the new party leader, to be elected to the Assembly. He died in 1943, after a brief illness.
caption: Graphic describing lands to be affected by The Forestry Act, 1927
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