page_title: Toby Sexsmith
section_title: 21st Manitoba Legislature
hierarchical_section_title: Toby Sexsmith / Political career / 21st Manitoba Legislature
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the Memorial Cup trophy on display at the 2015 Memorial Cup tournament
context_page_description: William Raymond "Toby" Sexsmith KC was a Canadian politician and ice hockey administrator. He was elected three times as a Progressive Conservative Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba representing the Portage la Prairie riding from 1933 to 1943. He served as president of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association from 1921 to 1923 and sat on the association's executive committee for 25 years. He served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1922 to 1924 and set a precedent that future CAHA presidents would also be given two-year terms.
  The Allan Cup was formally recognized as the senior ice hockey championship of Canada while Sexsmith was CAHA president, and eligibility rules were expanded to allow more teams to compete for the title. Profits from the Allan Cup playoffs were invested into amateur and minor ice hockey and the Canada men's national ice hockey team. He began the efforts to establish a standard set of national ice hockey rules and amateur competitions between the United States and Canada. He sought to grow youth interest in the game and encourage sportsmanship, and spoke out against growing professionalism in the sport.
context_section_description: Sexsmith was acclaimed in the 1941 Manitoba general election to represent Portage la Prairie in the 21st Manitoba Legislature. When Premier Bracken asked legislature members if they would agree to a nighttime session of parliament on March 27, Sexsmith was opposed to longer hours while the Portage Terriers were in the 1942 Memorial Cup playoffs and felt compelled to support his hometown team. The session was adjourned as many other members had tickets to that night's game. The Terriers went on to win Portage la Prairie its first Memorial Cup and national championship.
  In March 1942, Sexsmith introduced a bill to allow Portage la Prairie to impose a 2% tax on liquor sales to its permit holders. He explained that similar to legislation existed in Winnipeg to raise funds, and that Portage la Prairie had not paid interest on its debts in three years and were struggling since relief payments from the province had been reduced. The bill passed a second reading by a 28–18 vote. The law amendments committee rejected the bill by a 12–3 vote two days later. Sexsmith then took the matter to the citizens of Portage la Prairie to decide on whether to support a plebiscite for the tax.
  When the Manitoba legislature discussed redistribution of ridings according to representation by population in March 1943, Sexsmith and fellow rural members supported using a compromise between population and district representation. He felt that giving more voting power to Winnipeg was a worse inequality than the current district representation.
caption: Memorial Cup trophy
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