June 23 1896 - D’Alton McCarthy was the first MP elected for the new riding of Brandon.
6/23/2009 at 8:07 AM
D’Alton McCarthy (1836 – 1898)
The problem was the Dublin, Ireland born lawyer was elected in Brandon, and also Simcoe North, Ontario. He chose to sit as member for the latter forcing a By-election in Brandon.
He was born on the 10th October 1836, to Protestant parents, and immigrated to Canada with them in 1847, and was educated in Barrie Ontario. He was called to the Bar of Upper Canada in 1858, and was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1876. He was re-elected in 1878 to the constituency of North Simcoe, which he represented continuously until his death. McCarthy claimed himself independent from 1891, the day prior to the election, then for identification sat as a member of the “McCarthyite” party (presumably for his last name).
After the 1891 election he began to advocate reform of the Protective Tariff, a divergence from Tory policy that led in 1893 to a break with the party. During the 1890s he continued his vehement opposition to French-language schools, and his support of Manitoba's eradication of denominational schools as a way of suppressing French instruction. Consequently, he and his McCarthyite League worked to defeat the Federal Conservatives in the election of 1896.
McCarthy was at the centre of the most heated political issues of his day. He was President of Canada's Imperial Federation League for 7 years, although he was forced to resign because of his support for unilingualism. He relentlessly opposed the use of the French language outside Québec, and voted against his leader over the Jesuits’ Estates Act. After the 1896 election he forged an alliance with Wilfred Laurier’s Liberal Party. It was rumoured he was about to enter Laurier’s Cabinet at the time of his death.
He died in Toronto May 11th 1898 at age 61 following a carriage accident.
He was married twice, first to Emma Catherine Lally on 21 October 1867, and second to Agnes Elizabeth Bernard on 15 July 1873. His son was named Lally McCarthy.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Alton_McCarthy