John Power Howden

Who was John Power Howden?

John Power Howden was a Canadian Member of Parliament and physician.

Howden was born in Perth, Ontario. When he was 12, his family moved to Manitoba where he attended public school in Winnipeg and earned his medical degree at the University of Manitoba before establishing his practice in St. Boniface, Manitoba.

He became active in community life and was elected mayor of St. Boniface serving in the position from 1916 to 1917.

A Liberal, he was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1925 federal election as the Member of Parliament for St. Boniface and was re-elected in four subsequent elections and served in the House of Commons for two decades, until April 1945 when he was appointed to the Canadian Senate by William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Howden served in the upper house until his death in 1959 several months after suffering from a stroke.