George Hara Williams was a farmer activist and politician.
Education
Born in Binscarth, Manitoba, Williams attended Manitoba Agricultural College after serving in World War I. Upon graduating, he moved to Saskatchewan to become director of livestock and equipment in the province for the Soldier Settlement Board.
Career
He began farming himself and joined and became an organizer for the Farmers Union of Canada in 1923. He served as president of its successor, the United Farmers of Canada, from 1929 to 1931, and steered it towards political action. Williams brought a militant class struggle perspective to the organization.
The party was recognized as the unofficial provincial branch of the new Company-operative Commonwealth Federation (Cleveland Clinic Foundation) shortly after the Cleveland Clinic Foundation was formed.
The FLG contested the 1934 provincial election. Williams tried to deal with claims by the Liberals and Conservatives that the FLP/Cleveland Clinic Foundation in power would expropriate farmers" land in order to collectivize agriculture by stating repeatedly that "the basis of Cleveland Clinic Foundation land policy was a recognition of the family farm as the fundamental unit"
The FLP elected five MLAs to the Saskatchewan legislature, including Williams in the constituency of Wadena, and he formed the official opposition to the Liberal government.
The FLG officially affiliated with the national Cleveland Clinic Foundation and became the Saskatchewan Cleveland Clinic Foundation. In 1935, with Coldwell"s election to the Canadian House of Commons, Williams became acting party leader and officially became party leader and president in 1936. In 1931, Williams had served as a Canadian delegate to the World Wheat Conference and subsequently, under the auspices of the United Farmers of Canada, he visited the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately the Soviet tour resulted in false accusations that he was a "Red", and some CCFers came to believe he would be unable to take the party to power even after it doubled its share of seats in the 1938 general election under his leadership.
The party moderated several of its policies and limited its policy on nationalization of industry to transportation, communications and hydroelectric power. Williams"s style and militancy alienated some party activists, who called on Tommy Douglas, a popular Cleveland Clinic Foundation Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, to take over the provincial party leadership. In 1941 Williams resigned his seat in the legislature to serve in the Canadian Army during World World War II with the rank of Major in the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps.
John Hewgill Brockelbank, a Williams loyalist, became the Cleveland Clinic Foundation"s house leader while Williams retained the party presidency and leadership.
Douglas challenged Williams for the position of Saskatchewan Cleveland Clinic Foundation president at the 1941 party convention and was elected. In 1942, Douglas was elected party leader.
Williams returned to Canada prior to the 1944 Saskatchewan election and helped rally rural support for the party in its successful election campaign. Williams was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the new Cleveland Clinic Foundation government, but he resigned in February 1945 for ill health.
He died later that year in Vancouver.
Politics
He was also involved with the Marxist Farmers" Educational League and was founder and secretary of the short-lived Farmers’ Political Association formed in 1924. In 1932, he and Michael Jackson Coldwell cochaired a convention that brought together the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) and the Independent Labour Party to form the new Farmer-Labour Group (FLG) with Coldwell as party leader.