A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography: Brief biographies of persons distinguished in the professional, military and political life, and the commerce and industry of Canada, in the twentieth century
History
A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography: Brief biographies of persons distinguished in the professional, military and political life, and the commerce and industry of Canada, in the twentieth century
Canada -- Biography
Ontario in the spring of 1874, and he then formed a partnership with the
Hon. John O’Donohoe, which continued for four years, when it was
dissolved. He then opened an office of his own until he formed a
partnership with the late William Norris, of Woodstock, which lasted
till Mr. Norris returned to Woodstock. In 1877 he commenced to take an
active part in the politics of the country, and especially in the
promotion of the National Policy; in fact, he was one of the originators
of the word, and travelled over Ontario assisting in the formation of
political organizations to enable the National Policy party to carry
their new platform to a successful issue. He continued from that time to
take an active part as one of the political writers and speakers on the
platform until the winter of 1884, when he and a number of other
politicians conceived the idea of forming a coalition government for the
Province of Ontario, their object being to do away with partyism in the
local legislature. Others were brought into the scheme who were
impatient of the slow method of bringing about the change by argument,
and thought that a sufficient number of the members of the Legislature
could be secured by offers and promises to at once defeat the Mowat
Government, when the coalition could be immediately formed during the
spring session of 1884. The plans were disapproved of by the originators
of the idea, but the hot heads could not be kept under control, and the
public know the result of the unfortunate conspiracy case which sprung
from it, involving those more actively concerned in the long and tedious
investigation and prosecution before a Royal Commission and in the
criminal courts. The Royal Commission brought in a divided report, which
the House never acted upon. The verdict of the jury in the criminal
court, in the trial of May, 1885, acquitted the accused. Since that time
Mr. Meek has devoted himself strictly to the practice of his profession
in Toronto, and the promotion and formation of joint stock and other
companies. Mr. Meek was joined in marriage, on June 30, 1873, to Anna
Margaret McBride, daughter of Samuel McBride, of London, Ontario, by
which union they have issue two sons and one daughter. Mr. Meek and
family are members of the Church of England. Since the publication of
the preceding matter in the second edition of “Representative
Canadians,” about thirty years ago, Mr. Meek has continued to practise
law in all its branches in the city of Toronto, and is considered a
well-read lawyer, a sound legal adviser, and a successful practitioner.
While carrying on his legal practice, during the past twenty-five years,
he has written many thousands of “Legal Opinions,” published weekly in
the Saturday edition of the “Mail & Empire” newspaper. These concise and
clearly expressed statements of the law have been widely read, and
highly appreciated by many thousands of readers of that journal, and
have been copied in other newspapers. Mr.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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