William Irvine (Canadian politician)

He served in the House of Commons of Canada on three occasions, as a representative of Labour, the United Farmers of Alberta, and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

He moved to Canada in 1907 after being recruited for ministerial work by James Woodsworth, the father of future CCF leader J. S.

He refused to sign the Articles of Faith when ordained as a Methodist minister, claiming that he accepted the ethical but not the supernatural aspects of Christian belief.

Irvine was accused of heresy the following year by a church elder, and, although acquitted of the charge, chose to resign his commission.

He left the Methodists, and accepted a call to lead the Unitarian Church in Calgary, Alberta in early 1916.

[5] He campaigned for the House of Commons of Canada in 1917, as a Labour candidate opposing Robert Borden's Unionist government during the Conscription Crisis election of 1917.

[8] Irvine lived briefly in New Brunswick in 1920, and supported that province's United Farmers movement during a federal by-election.

[9] After returning to Calgary, he helped convince the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) to enter political life.

Direct politics was endorsed following a series of public debates between Irvine and Wood at UFA meetings.

Irvine's first book, Farmers in Politics (1920), endorsed the UFA policies of economic co-operation and group government.

Two other Labour MPs were elected in Canada that year - Joseph Shaw (Calgary) and J. S. Woodsworth (Winnipeg North Centre).

He, Woodsworth and many Farmer and Labour MPs formed the "Ginger Group", which pushed and prodded the House of Commons to pass pro-labour and pro-farmer legislation.