Medical Doctor, Canadian Minister of Agriculture, and briefly Canadian Secretary of State.

Educated at Victoria University and Toronto School of Medicine, in 1882 admitted to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.

Practiced medicine in Dunnville, Ontario, and became immediately involved in politics in what seems like contested circumstances. Elected to Parliament in 1887, but unseated on petition. Elected again in 1887, again unseated by the Canadian Supreme Court calling another election in 1889 in which he was defeated. Again elected in 1890, he apparently held the seat until 1896.

He made the speech in reply to the Speech from the Throne, 1888, and became Secretary of State in the Bowell administration for a few months in 1895. At the end of 1895 he became Minister of Agriculture, a post he held until July 1896. These positions were associated with the periods of the Bowell and Tupper administrations.

After dropping politics, he was elected in 1913 to represent Kildonan in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. Also in 1913, he was appointed Minister of Public Works in the Roblin administration. He apparently held these posts until his death.

Canadian politics seems quite eventful (isn't it always so?). He was one of the famous nest of traitors that Mackenzie Bowell charged with conspiring against him. One newspaper called him `A talker and nothing else' while another called him `The rising sun of the Conservative party'.

The issue of the day seems to have been relations between the `French' Catholics and `English' Protestants, especially with respect to school funding (essentially, voluntary French segregation, with Catholic schools being funded by public money).

"Bowell ... inherited the young Dominion's touchiest political decision... the Manitoba schools question. His failure to resolve that problem and his inability to carry out the daily administrative functions of office led to one of the few genuine cabinet revolts in Canadian history...

... the right to separate Roman Catholic schools which French-Canadians had won in Quebec and Manitoba after Confederation was bitterly resented by Protestants in the western province. ...

(Bowell tried to have it all ways, pleased nobody, tried to leave it up to the courts, and pretty soon had everybody nearly ready to fight... ed.)

Bowell's supporters dropped away. ... In a surprise move seven members of his cabinet resigned saying that they had lost all confidence in Bowell. To some French Canadians it seemed that these men, Bowell's famous `nest of traitors', rebelled to prevent remedial action. In reality they rebelled to protest the incompetence of the Prime Minister. The administration of government was at a near standstill. They demanded that Bowell resign in favour of Sir Charles Tupper, the rugged old politician... " (Ondaatje and Swainson)

The `cabinet strike' sounds fairly active:

"Seven of them (his cabinet, ed.) resigned. When he attempted to replace them they staged a Cabinet strike. The seven bewhiskered figures in top hats picketed trains arriving at Ottawa station, button-holing every Tory that Bowell might try to recruit, and urging him not to join the Cabinet. Working conditions for ministers were impossible, they declared. They combed the Ottawa hotels for potential Cabinet ministers and warned them off. `A nest of traitors,' howeled Bowell as he gave in. ..." (Fifteen Men, Gordon Donaldson)

Sources:
The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
The Canadian Men and Women of the Time.
The Prime Ministers of Canada, Ondaatje and Swainson.
Fifteen Men, Donaldson.