Franklin Spence

Career

He represented Fort William in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1923 to 1934 and from 1937 to 1943 as a Conservative member. He defeated unidentified flying object-Labor cabinet minister Harry (Henry) Mills in the 1923 election, was re-elected in December 1926 and again in October 1929, chiefly because of the popularity of Ontario premier Howard Ferguson - "A vote for Spence is a vote for Ferguson," he advertised. He was the son of James Edward Spence and was educated in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and at Toronto University.

Spence served on the Fort William city council 1921-1923 for Ward 4 (West Fort).

Achievements

• He was defeated by Liberal Joseph Edmund Crawford in the June 1934 election, but won the seat again in October 1937 when the Liberal vote split between the official candidate Harry Murphy and the Independent Liberal Crawford.