The United Farmers of Quebec (Fermiers unis de Québec) were founded in 1918 as part of the broader United Farmers movement in of Canada.
The genesis of the organization was in protests resulting from the Conscription Crisis of 1917 against the attempt of Robert Borden's federal government to conscript farm youths into the Canadian military during World War I. Quebec farmers organized a large demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 15, 1918, bringing them into contact with the United Farmers national movement."United Farmers of Quebec" The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Quebec farmers organized 20 associations in western Quebec and in July 1918 organized the Interprovincial Union of Farmers as an umbrella group. By this time renamed to United Farmers of Québec, a conference held in Montreal in January 1920 finalized the organizational structure and elected A. H. Clement as president. As for 1921, UFQ had 5,000 members in 20 counties.
From the beginning, UFQ was involved in politics, supporting Nérée Morin in 1920 provincial by-election in Kamouraska, and later nominating Joseph Lambert in 1921 federal by-election in Yamaska.
At the Montreal convention in October 1921, the United Farmers and the Union des cultivateurs du Québec formed the Parti fermier-progressiste du Québec (Progressive Farmers of Québec) with the support of Joseph-Noé Ponton and the Bulletin des agriculteurs. The party was inspired by both the program of the Progressive Party of Canada and the nationalism of Henri Bourassa, and included, in particular, the development of natural resources, respect for human rights, reduction of military spending and opposition to conscription.
The party supported 21 candidates, most of whom ran in conjunction with the Progressive Party of Canada in the 1921 federal election, but none were elected. The farmers' candidates won 42,000 votes, or 11% of the total in Quebec.
By 1924, the group had been overshadowed by the more conservative Catholic Union of Farmers, which later became Union des producteurs agricoles.
Electoral results
+1921 Canadian federal electionRiding Candidate"Candidats Fermiers-Progressistes sur les rangs dans Québec" Le bulletin des agriculteurs, December 3, 1921 (pg. 4) via Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (numerique.banq.qc.ca). Retrieved October 20, 2022. Votes % PositionBagot Louis-Homer Marcotte 3,034 42.8 2/3Bellechasse Joseph Cléophas Cote 1,109 17.6 2/2Champlain Auguste Trudel 2,090 12.3 3/3Drummond—Arthabaska Wilfrid Blanchard 2,154 13.6 2/4Hull Sylvio Lafortune 2,510 17.3 2/2Châteauguay—Huntingdon Peter Daniel McArthur 4,061 38.6 2/3Joliette Paplinuce Bonin 265 2.6 3/3Kamouraska Joseph Langlais 2,483 34.0 2/2Labelle Jean Lachance 2,893 27.8 2/3Laval—Two Mountains Aglibert Théoret 3,479 34.6 2/3Nicolet Fortunat Proulx 2,271 21.5 2/3Pontiac George Arthur Landon 1,760 10.6 3/3Richmond—Wolfe Azarie Lemire 2,986 22.4 2/2Rimouski Alfred Lavoie 1,247 16.4 2/2Vaudreuil—Soulanges Julien Charlebois 293 3.5 2/3Wright Herbert Miller Ellard 1,590 20.8 2/3
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