James Allison Glen

Who was James Allison Glen?

James Allison Glen, PC was a Canadian parliamentarian and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1940 to 1945.

Born in Renton, Scotland, Glen graduated in law from the University of Glasgow before immigrating to Canada in 1911 where he settled in Winnipeg. He later moved to Russell, Manitoba, where he practised law and was elected to the school board.

A supporter of the Progressive Party in Manitoba, Glen had been the chief organizer for party leader Thomas Crerar in the 1917 federal election when Crerar was a Liberal-Unionist candidate, and the 1921 election in which the Progressives made their debut.

Glen was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1926 election as a Liberal-Progressive at a time when Manitoba Progressives, including the Manitoba Progressive Party provincial government, had decided to align with the Liberals in order to increase their influence.

After losing his seat in the 1930 election, Glen returned to Parliament in 1935.

Glen was chosen as Speaker of the House following the 1940 election, and had to deal with issues of wartime security such as censoring Hansard in order to remove sensitive military information.