Ontario Temperance Act

The Ontario Temperance Act was a law passed in 1916 that led to the Prohibition of alcohol in Ontario. When the act was first enacted, the sale of alcohol was prohibited, but liquor could still be manufactured in the province or imported. Strong support for prohibition came from religious elements of society such as pietistic Protestants, especially Methodists, seeking to eliminate what they considered the evil effects of liquor, including violence, family abuse, and political corruption. Historically, temperance advocates in Ontario drew inspiration from the movement in the United States.

Prior the act, two attempts failed to control or eliminate sale of alcohol in the province. A plebiscite in 1894 failed because of federal disapproval of provincial control over the importation of alcohol. Another attempt in 1902 failed because of low voter turnout.

However, in 1864 the Dunkin Act enabled any municipality or county in the united Province of Canada to hold a majority vote to prohibit the sale of alcohol. In 1878, the Scott Act extended "local option" to the whole Dominion of Canada. In the early twentieth century, more and more Ontario municipalities went "dry". By 1914, 520 localities had banned the sale of alcohol, and only 322 were "wet".

When William Hearst became premier of Ontario in September 1914, the temperance movement gained an ally, despite complaints from wet elements of Hearst's own Conservative Party. The onset of the First World War gave advocates further impetus to push the cause, arguing temperance would reduce waste, inefficiency, and distractions. In 1916, the Hearst government unanimously passed the Ontario Temperance Act. In March 1918, the Federal government passed an order-in-council that prohibited the manufacture, importation, and transportation of alcohol into Ontario and other provinces where purchase was illegal. Nonetheless, Ontarians could still acquire alcohol from doctors offices and drugstores. In 1920 alone, Ontario doctors wrote more than 650,000 prescriptions for alcohol.

Following the end of World War One, prohibition at the federal level was repealed at the end of 1919. That year, a province-wide referendum saw support of the Ontario ban on sales by a majority of 400,000 votes. In 1921, another referendum showed a slight slip in support for prohibition, but the province now became "bone dry" by banning the importation of alcohol. A subsequent referendum two years later showed a greater slip in support for the act, with 51.5 percent for and 48.5 against. In 1926, Howard Ferguson's Conservatives won a general election in which they promised the introduction of liquor sales by the province.

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