Sidney Earle Smith

The Honourable Sidney Earle Smith PC QC
Secretary of State for External Affairs
In office 13 September 1957 – 17 March 1959
Prime Minister	John Diefenbaker
Preceded by	John Diefenbaker
Succeeded by	John Diefenbaker (Acting)
Member of Parliament for Hastings—Frontenac
In office 4 November 1957 – 17 March 1959
Preceded by	George Stanley White
Succeeded by	Rod Webb
7th President of the University of Toronto
In office 1945–1957
Preceded by	Henry John Cody
Succeeded by	Claude Bissell
2nd President of the University of Manitoba
In office 1934–1944
Preceded by	James Alexander MacLean
Succeeded by	Henry Percy Armes (Acting)
4th Dean of Dalhousie Law School
In office 1929–1934
Preceded by	John Erskine Read
Succeeded by	Vincent C. MacDonald
Personal details
Born	Sidney Earle Smith (1897-03-09)9 March 1897 Port Hood Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died	17 March 1959(1959-03-17) (aged 62) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse	Harriet Amelia Rand ​ (m. 1926)​
Children	3
Profession	University President Lawyer Dean Teacher

Sidney Earle Smith PC QC (9 March 1897 – 17 March 1959) was an academic and Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs in the government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

Early life and education

Born and raised on Nova Scotia's Port Hood Island, Smith grew up speaking both English and Gaelic. He received a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of King's College, followed by an LL.B. from Dalhousie University.

Career

Smith became a lawyer and a professor of law, lecturing at Osgoode Hall Law School and then at Dalhousie University. In 1929, he became dean of Dalhousie's law school. In 1934, he left the Maritimes to become president of the University of Manitoba. In 1945, he was appointed the president of the University of Toronto. He remained in that role for twelve years, overseeing a major period of the university's expansion.

Politics

A strong Conservative in the Red Tory tradition, Smith became a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party. In 1956, he was considered a possibility for the party's leadership, but decided not to run, disappointing those in the party establishment who wished to prevent the populist John Diefenbaker from becoming leader.

After Diefenbaker won a surprise minority government in 1957, Smith was appointed as Secretary of State for External Affairs. Despite Smith's brilliance and popularity in academia, his success in this new role was limited. After holding the position for two years, he died suddenly of a stroke in 1959.

Posthumous recognition

Sidney Smith Hall, the central building of the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto, is named after him.

Election results

Canadian federal by-election, November 4, 1957: Hastings—Frontenac Appointment of George Stanley White to the Senate
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Sidney Earle Smith	10,513
	Labour	Ross Dowson	266
Library of Parliament

References

Martin Friedland, The University of Toronto: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.

External links

• Sidney Earle Smith – Parliament of Canada biography
• Sidney Earle Smith archival papers held at the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
• Sidney Earle Smith fonds s held at Library and Archives Canada