Patricks in politics

At least two members of the extended Patrick family were elected to public office, while another was encouraged to run but declined.

In 1915, Joseph Patrick declared his candidacy for school trustee in Victoria but withdrew so the remaining candidates could be elected by acclamation, saving the board the cost of an election.  

Then, although had been a longtime federal Liberal with ties to prime minister Sir Wilfred Laurier, he put his name forward in August 1917 as an independent candidate for the federal riding of Victoria City. His win-the-war platform called for conscription of soldiers and national adoption of Prohibition, among other things. Joe had “always shown a decided tendency in favor of independence,” the Victoria Daily Times explained.

Victoria Daily Times, Sept. 22, 1917

However, after a few months Joe had a change of heart and instead threw his support behind the Unionist candidate, Dr. Simon Fraser Tolmie. The Unionists were a centre-right party made up of former Conservatives and Liberals.

While Joe was “not personally acquainted with the Doctor,” he was said to be “greatly impressed by what he has heard of the Union candidate’s sterling qualities.” Joe said Tolmie’s views on Canada’s war effort were much the same as his own. Tolmie won a massive landslide, taking over 78 per cent of the vote against two other candidates.

In 1918, Joe Patrick ran for Victoria city council. The preliminary count had him with 1,334 votes, enough to secure the 10th and final aldermanic seat, 15 votes ahead of the 11th-place finisher. However, following a recount, Joe slipped to 1,332 votes and 11th place.

Undaunted, Joe ran again in 1919 and this time he was easily elected, finishing third with 1,834 votes. He stood for re-election in 1920, again coming third, with 1,917 votes.

In 1921, he ran for mayor against two-term incumbent Robert J. Porter. Joe’s son Lester served as his campaign manager. Several of his platform planks were generic: greater efficiency at city hall, pressing the provincial government for financial help, and promoting the tourist industry. To this he added he would borrow money for winter make-work projects to reduce unemployment, complete the Johnson Street bridge, and lobby for other transportation improvements and the establishment of a steel plant for ship building.

Joe also offered to make a friendly bet with Robert Porter over the election’s outcome. The loser would have to donate $1,000 to Jubilee Hospital. But Porter didn’t agree to the wager.

According to the Daily Times, the result “was never in doubt … from the moment when counting of the ballots commenced. [Porter] took the lead and held it throughout and the size of the majority became the only question. Shortly before 8 o’clock Lester Patrick … admitted to newspaper representatives that his father’s defeat was apparent.”

Porter polled 2,517 votes to Joe Patrick’s 1,604, a difference of 913. Gracious in defeat, Joe congratulated Porter by telephone and insisted he had no regrets.  

Victoria Daily Times, Dec. 13, 1921

Joe ran again for alderman the following year and was elected, finishing in ninth place with 2,989 votes. Porter, however, was defeated in his bid for re-election by William Marchant. A few months later, Porter died following a long illness. Joe described him as “a most valuable citizen … loved by the whole community.”

Thereafter, Victoria adopted staggered electoral terms, and at the end of 1922, Joe ran for re-election for a two-year term. His 2,189 votes initially placed him eighth among 12 candidates. Only the first five were to be elected. A recount bumped him up to 2,508 votes but didn’t change his standing. The Daily Times said his defeat surprised his colleagues, but he had supported an unpopular improvement tax and “has made many enemies by his blunt and fearless attitude in the council.”

Thus ended Joe Patrick’s political career, although he continued to be prominent as the director of the Victoria and Island Publicity Bureau.

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In the fall of 1921, it was suggested Lester Patrick might follow in his father’s political footsteps — for three different offices. It was first reported that he was a possible candidate for the federal Liberal nomination against Simon Tolmie, against whom his father had planned to run against in 1917 before dropping out. However, it doesn’t appear Lester let his name stand. Instead, William McKinnon Ivel was chosen as the candidate. Lester signed Ivel’s nomination papers, but he lost to Tolmie (who later became BC’s premier).

Next, according to the Saskatoon Daily Star of Oct. 22, 1921:

Victorians are quite convinced they will have a Patrick for mayor one of these days. They say that if the “old man” can’t make the grade then it is very plainly up to Lester to step in and do the honors for the family. Lester would skate in with a rush.

Lester wasn’t interested. He was also suggested as a candidate for the police board, but the Daily Times of Nov. 8, 1921 reported: “Mr. Patrick some days ago told friends who were pressing him to be a candidate that he would not run for the police board. It is understood that he has not changed his mind since then.”

Years later, Lester was heavily favoured for president of the NHL, but he declined that position as well.

Spending much of the year in New York running the Rangers did not dim Lester’s star in Victoria. According to Andy Lytle in the Toronto Star Weekly of Jan. 17, 1948, “Not long ago, a Victoria sports writer, who became an alderman in that insular city [i.e. Archie Wills], said he had no doubt that Lester, if he wished, could return and be elected mayor.”

In fact, Lytle said Lester could have aspired for even higher office: “His British Columbia friends insist that had he turned his steps toward a political career he could have been a second Sir Richard McBride.” McBride was BC’s premier from 1903-15 and like Lester, he had a head full of white hair. However, Lester was never knighted.

In 1953, Lester (along with dozens of other people) signed the nomination papers of Victoria federal Liberal candidate Frank Fairey. Fairey won easily, but was defeated when he sought re-election in 1957.

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Dr. George A.B. Hall was a brother-in-law to Lester Patrick. His wife Christina and Lester’s wife Grace were half sisters. Dr. Hall practiced in Nelson, where he spent nine years on the school board and one year on city council. In 1907, he ran for the Liberals in the provincial riding of Nelson City and was elected by five votes over the Conservative candidate. He didn’t run for re-election in 1909, but later served as mayor of Nanaimo from 1930-31. He was on the boards of the companies that ran the rinks in both Nelson and Victoria.

Isaac Patrick, a cousin to Lester and his siblings, was married to Etta Elinor Mitchell. She in turn was a cousin of Walter Mitchell, who served as a member of Quebec’s legislative assembly for the Richmond riding from 1914-21 and was minister of municipal affairs from 1918-21. He then served as member of parliament for St. Antoine until his resignation in 1924. He ran again in 1930 in the Richmond-Wolfe riding but lost. 

The Patricks were associated with several other politicians in their arena dealings. In addition to Dr. G.A.B. Hall, the executive of the Nelson Rink Ltd., which built a new arena in Nelson in 1908-09, included future mayor Mungo McQuarrie as well as Harry Wright, who represented the Ymir riding in the BC legislature from 1903-07 and the Nelson riding from 1909-12. Wright was among the guests at Lester’s wedding in 1911.

When the Patricks built a new rink in Victoria in 1911 for their Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the board of directors included Harry Wright and Robert F. Green, who was mayor of Kaslo, BC in the 1890s and represented the Slocan and Kaslo ridings in the legislature from 1898 to 1907. He was also successively member of parliament for the ridings of Kootenay and Kootenay West from 1912 to 1921, then was appointed to the senate, where he served until his death in 1946.

Updated on Feb. 11, 2025 to add the note about Frank Fairey. Updated on April 1, 2025 to add the 1948 quotes from the Star Weekly.