Waverley Lodge in Guelph
This was the first meeting in a very busy and yet extremely fun and fruitful week of visits for me, as I travelled out to Guelph on a Monday evening, Jan 13, into the district of Wellington to see my friend Harry Turner Bishop installed in the East as the new WM of Waverley Lodge No. 361 and, of course, to watch VWBro Robert Jewell - who was at my Initiation and is now a proud member of The Beaches Lodge - invest their Organist. Arriving a bit early, luckily, given the traffic, the evening for me actually started off with a visit across the road, however, to an authentically cool UK pub for (these days) a rare pint of Kilkenny and enjoy a plate of fries.
The lodge room was full and the ceremony of Installation of the Master and Investiture of his Officers was performed quite quickly and very well done, I might add. Of note, in terms of Masonic education, it seems a "famous" Freemason hails from Waverley Lodge: George Alexander Drew, who was initiated in 1923, on March 26, was Premier of Ontario during the latter part of WWII, and subsequently also led the federal Progressive Conservative political party prior to John Diefenbaker.
According to the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario's website, George Alexander Drew (7 May 1894 – 4 January 1973): was a Canadian conservative politician who founded a Progressive Conservative dynasty in Ontario that lasted 42 years. He served as the 14th Premier of Ontario from 1943 to 1948.
He was elected mayor of the City of Guelph in 1925 after serving as an alderman. In 1929 he left to become assistant master and then master of the Supreme Court of Ontario. As a practising lawyer, in 1931, he was appointed the first Chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission by the provincial Conservative government but was fired by the Liberal government of the colourful Mitch Hepburn after it came to power in the 1934 provincial election.
In the 1943 provincial election, the Progressive Conservatives won a minority government, narrowly beating the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Drew won by responding to the mood of the times, and running on a relatively left-wing platform, promising such radical reforms as free dental care and universal health care. While his government did not implement either of these election promises, it did establish the basis for the Tory regimes that followed by trying to steer a moderate course. Drew's government also introduced the Drew Regulation in 1944, which made it compulsory for Ontario schools to provide one hour of religious instruction a week.
Drew's government insisted on spending $400 million in a ten-year program to standardize Ontario's electricity system with the rest of North America thereby allowing the province to more easily import and export electricity - a necessary prerequisite for the province's industrial development. "Colonel Drew" (as he liked to be called) won the 1948 federal Progressive Conservative leadership convention, defeating John Diefenbaker on the first ballot. Drew led his party in the 1949 and 1953 federal elections, before resigning in 1956 in poor health following a near fatal attack of meningitis. He was succeeded by John Diefenbaker.
He served as the first Chancellor of the University of Guelph from 1965 until 1971 and in 1967, "for his services in government", he entered the newly created Order of Canada as a Companion.
According to the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario's website, George Alexander Drew (7 May 1894 – 4 January 1973): was a Canadian conservative politician who founded a Progressive Conservative dynasty in Ontario that lasted 42 years. He served as the 14th Premier of Ontario from 1943 to 1948.
He was elected mayor of the City of Guelph in 1925 after serving as an alderman. In 1929 he left to become assistant master and then master of the Supreme Court of Ontario. As a practising lawyer, in 1931, he was appointed the first Chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission by the provincial Conservative government but was fired by the Liberal government of the colourful Mitch Hepburn after it came to power in the 1934 provincial election.
In the 1943 provincial election, the Progressive Conservatives won a minority government, narrowly beating the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Drew won by responding to the mood of the times, and running on a relatively left-wing platform, promising such radical reforms as free dental care and universal health care. While his government did not implement either of these election promises, it did establish the basis for the Tory regimes that followed by trying to steer a moderate course. Drew's government also introduced the Drew Regulation in 1944, which made it compulsory for Ontario schools to provide one hour of religious instruction a week.
Drew's government insisted on spending $400 million in a ten-year program to standardize Ontario's electricity system with the rest of North America thereby allowing the province to more easily import and export electricity - a necessary prerequisite for the province's industrial development. "Colonel Drew" (as he liked to be called) won the 1948 federal Progressive Conservative leadership convention, defeating John Diefenbaker on the first ballot. Drew led his party in the 1949 and 1953 federal elections, before resigning in 1956 in poor health following a near fatal attack of meningitis. He was succeeded by John Diefenbaker.
He served as the first Chancellor of the University of Guelph from 1965 until 1971 and in 1967, "for his services in government", he entered the newly created Order of Canada as a Companion.
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