James Anderson

Anderson, James Thomas Milton

James Thomas Milton Anderson, educator, author, premier of Saskatchewan (b at Fairbank, Ont 23 July 1878; d at Saskatoon 29 Dec 1946). After teaching in the Yorkton district, Anderson was appointed inspector of schools in 1911 and director of education among new Canadians in 1918 - the year he published The Education of the New Canadian. In 1924 he became leader of the Conservative Party and in 1925 was elected MLA for Saskatoon City.

Following the defeat of J.G. GARDINER's ministry on 6 Sept 1929, Anderson formed the Co-operative government, a coalition of Conservatives, Progressives and Independents. The controversy surrounding the 1930-31 amendments to the School Act obscured his administration's legislative record. Two years after his government's crushing defeat in 1934, Anderson retired from politics and managed an insurance company before being appointed acting superintendent of the School for the Deaf, Saskatoon, in 1944.