William Folger Nickle,KC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament forKingston | |
| In office 1911–1919 | |
| Preceded by | William Harty |
| Succeeded by | Henry Lumley Drayton |
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 1922–1926 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur Edward Ross |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Ashmore Kidd |
| In office 1908–1911 | |
| Preceded by | Edward John Barker Pense |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Edward Ross |
| Constituency | Kingston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1869-12-31)December 31, 1869 Kingston, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | November 15, 1957(1957-11-15) (aged 87) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | |
| Relations | William McAdam Nickle, son |
| Children | William McAdam Nickle |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
William Folger NickleKC (December 31, 1869 - November 15, 1957) was aCanadian politician who served both as a member of theHouse of Commons of Canada and in theOntario legislature where he rose to the position ofAttorney-General of Ontario. He is best known for theNickle Resolution that ended the practice ofknighthoods andpeerages being awarded to Canadians.
Born inKingston, Ontario, the son of William Nickle, Nickle was educated atQueen's University andOsgoode Hall. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1896 and set up a law practice in Kingston. He entered local politics and was elected to the school board 1904 and then served on Kingston city council from 1905 until 1908.
He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the1908 provincial election as aConservative and served for three years until his election to the federal House of Commons in the1911 federal election, as theConservativeMember of Parliament (MP) for Kingston. He was re-elected in the1917 federal election as aUnionist.
Nickle was appointed to chair a special committee of the House of Commons to examine the question of the appointment ofhonours. There had been criticism in the press about a surfeit of knighthoods being created duringWorld War I. In 1919, Nickle moved and had passed through the House aresolution calling for an end to the practice of Canadians being granted knighthoods and peerages. Nickle's detractors charged that he was bitter at having failed to get a knighthood for his father-in-law.
Later that year, he resigned hisfederal seat contending that the wartimeUnion Government should also resign and seek a post-war mandate to govern. Nickle returned to provincial politics and won a seat in theOntario legislature in a 1922by-election.
The Conservatives formed government following the1923 provincial election. The newPremier of Ontario,George Howard Ferguson, appointed Nickle tocabinet asAttorney-General of Ontario. Nickle resigned from Cabinet in October 1926 when Premier Ferguson announced his plan to repeal theOntario Temperance Act and allow liquor sales. He ran as an Independent on aprohibition platform in the subsequent1926 provincial election but was defeated in the riding of Kingston and Portsmouth by the Conservative candidate,Thomas Kidd.
He married Agnes Mary McAdam in 1885 and married Katherine Louise Gorden in 1911 after the death of his first wife. Nickle served on the city council for Kingston, also serving as a member of the school board, and was a trustee for Queen's University and a member of the board of governors for Kingston Hospital.
William McAdam Nickle, a son from his first marriage, went on to serve in the Ontario cabinet.