William Melville Martin

Who was William Melville Martin?

William Melville Martin served as the second Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from 1916 to 1922.

Martin was elected to the House of Commons for Regina in the 1908 Canadian federal election, and re-elected in 1911. In 1916, he entered provincial politics to take over the leadership of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and become Premier. Martin, an outsider to provincial politics, was chosen by the Liberals in order to help distance them from allegations of corruption. Martin brought farmers' advocate Charles A. Dunning into the cabinet in an attempt to revitalise the Liberals, and instituted reforms to clean up the government. These changes were successful in cleansing the government's image, and Martin led the government to re-election in the 1917 election, winning 51 of 59 seats.

The United Farmers and Progressive movements were riding a national wave of agrarian discontent which undercut the Liberals across Canada, and threatened to engulf the Saskatchewan Liberals as well.