William Horace Temple
| William H. Temple | |
|---|---|
Bill Temple at his campaign victory party in 1948.
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| Member of Provincial Parliament | |
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In office 1948–1951 |
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| Preceded by | George Drew |
| Succeeded by | Alfred Hozack Cowling |
| Constituency | High Park |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
28 November 1898 Montreal, Quebec |
| Died | 9 April 1988 (aged 89) Toronto, Ontario |
| Political party | Co-operative Commonwealth Federation/New Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Temple |
| Children | Phyllis and William Jr. |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Religion | United Church of Canada |
| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) | Temperance Bill |
| Allegiance | Canada |
| Service/branch | Royal Canadian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Flying Officer |
| Battles/wars | Battle of the Atlantic |
| War | World War I |
| Allegiance | Britain |
| Branch | Royal Naval Air Service |
| Service Years | 1916-1918 |
| Rank | Flying Officer |
William Horace (Bill) Temple (28 November 1898 – 9 April 1988), nicknamed "Temperance Bill" or "Temperance Willie", was a Canadian democratic socialist politician, trade union activist, businessman and temperance crusader. As a youth he worked for the railway. During World War I, and World War II he was a soldier in the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Between the wars, he was a salesman, and then he started a clothing import business. He became a socialist during this period, and joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) when it was formed. He ran for political office many times for the CCF, both federally and provincially. The highlight of his political career was in 1948, when he defeated the incumbent premier of Ontario George Drew in his own legislative seat, in the electoral district of High Park, even though the premier's party won the general election with a majority government. His tenure was relatively short, serving only one term, and was defeated in the 1951 provincial election, and went back into the clothing import business. In his later years, he successfully led the political fight to maintain the prohibition on selling alcohol in Toronto's west-end, winning three referenda in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He died in the spring of 1988, a few months before another referendum on lifting the restrictions on alcohol in the area was again defeated, his "last" victory.
Temple was born in Montreal in 1898, and was one of five children. His father was a railway conductor, and the family moved with him to Toronto in 1909. After completing grade 8, due in part to his father's alcoholism, he took a job as an office boy with the Grand Trunk Railway for $5 a week.
At the age of 17 Temple went to fight in World War I, joining the Royal Navy Air Service as a fighter pilot before transferring to the Royal Air Force, where he destroyed three Royal Air Force planes and no enemy ones. In 1942, during World War II, he was a flying officer on intelligence operations for the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed in Sydney, Nova Scotia and Gander, Newfoundland.
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