Fleming Blanchard McCurdy
{{Short description|Canadian politician (1875–1952)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Fleming Blanchard McCurdy
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}
| image = Fleming Blanchard McCurdy.jpg
| constituency_MP = Shelburne and Queen's
| parliament = Canadian
| predecessor = William Stevens Fielding
| successor = William Stevens Fielding
| term_start = 1911
| term_end = 1917
| constituency_MP2 = Colchester
| parliament2 = Canadian
| predecessor2 = John Stanfield
| successor2 = Harold Putnam
| term_start2 = 1917
| term_end2 = 1921
| birth_date = {{birth date|1875|02|17}}
| birth_place = Old Barns, Nova Scotia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1952|08|29|1875|02|17}}
| death_place =
| nationality =
| spouse =
| party =
| cabinet = Minister of Public Works (1920–1921)
| relations =
| children =
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}}
Fleming Blanchard McCurdy, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} (February 17, 1875 – August 29, 1952) was a Canadian politician.
Born in Old Barns, Nova Scotia, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the Nova Scotia riding of Shelburne and Queen's in the 1911 election as a Conservative. He was re-elected in the 1917 election for the riding of Colchester as a supporter of Sir Robert Laird Borden's Unionist government.
In 1916, he was one of the first parliamentarians to be appointed a Parliamentary Secretary, when he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary of Militia and Defence for Sam Hughes. He was also the Parliamentary Secretary of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment. Upon his appointment to Borden's Cabinet in 1920 as Minister of Public Works he was required by the custom of the time to resign his seat and run in a by-election. By this point it was customary for Cabinet ministers running in by-elections to be acclaimed however, the newly formed United Farmers party contested the by-election with a United-Farmers/Labour candidate. McCurdy opted to face this challenge by running as a Nationalist Liberal rather than as a Conservative and was re-elected, though narrowly. It is possible he chose this banner as the Unionist Party had formally changed its name to the National Liberal and Conservative Party by this time or as a means of facing down the threat from a left-wing candidate. In any case, Blanchard ran the following year in the 1921 election as a Conservative and was defeated.
{{1917 Canadian federal election/Colchester}}
{{CanElec1-by|20 September 1920|On Mr. McCurdy being appointed Minister of Public Works, 13 July 1920}}
{{CANelec|CA|Nationalist Liberal|Fleming Blanchard McCurdy|6,478}}
{{CANelec|CA|United Farmers|Hugh Archibald Dickson|5,034}}
{{end}}
{{1921 Canadian federal election/Colchester}}
References
- {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=3546}}
- [http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/34th1st/34p_01s_871130p.htm Debates of the Legislative Assembly]
{{CA-Ministers of Public Works}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCurdy, Fleming Blanchard}}
Category:Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs
Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Category:Unionist Party (Canada) MPs
Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
{{NovaScotia-MP-stub}}