John Walter Jones

Who was John Walter Jones?

John Walter Jones was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada. An agronomist, he was instrumental in introducing the potato crop to the island, which was to become a staple of the economy. In 1935, he received the King George V medal as the best farmer in the province.

Born in Pownal, he first ran for public office in the 1921 federal election as a Farmer-Progressive candidate, but failed to win a seat in the Canadian House of Commons.

He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island as a Liberal in 1935. In 1943, he became the 20th Premier of the province when Thane A. Campbell was appointed Chief Justice of the PEI Supreme Court.

The government of "Farmer Jones" repealed strict prohibition, and created the PEI Liquor Control Commission to regulate the sale of liquor. He had to proceed by order-in-council because the lieutenant governor, as a prohibitionist, refused to give Royal Assent to the necessary legislation. In 1947, his government broke a strike at Canada Packers, a meat-packing plant, by seizing the plant, employing strike-breakers and outlawing trade union affiliation with national or international unions in the name of "protect the farm interest".