| Honorific prefix | The Hon. |
|---|---|
| Constituency mp | Frontenac |
| Parliament | Canadian |
| Predecessor | Melzar Avery |
| Successor | William Samuel Reed |
| Term start | 1908 |
| Term end | 1921 |
| Constituency mp 2 | Frontenac—Addington |
| Parliament 2 | Canadian |
| Predecessor 2 | Riding created |
| Successor 2 | William Spankie |
| Term start 2 | 1925 |
| Term end 2 | 1929 |
| Office 3 | Minister presiding over the Department of Health |
| Predecessor 3 | James Alexander Calder |
| Successor 3 | Henri Sévérin Béland |
| Term start 3 | September 21, 1921 |
| Term end 3 | December 29, 1921 |
| Birth date | May 25, 1865 |
| Birth place | Storrington Township (Latimer), Canada West |
| Death date | April 18, 1929 (aged 63) |
| Death place | Carleton County, Ontario |
| Spouse | Hester Jane Purdy |
| Party | Conservative |
| Cabinet | Minister presiding over the Department of Health (1921) Minister of Immigration and Colonization (1921) |
| Occupation | politician |
| Profession | physician and teacher |
John Wesley Edwards, (May 25, 1865 – April 18, 1929) was a Canadian politician.
Born in Storrington Township, Canada West, he was a physician and teacher, before being elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the riding of Frontenac in the 1908 federal election. A Conservative, he was re-elected in 1911 and 1917 but was defeated in 1921. He was re-elected again in 1925 and 1926. He died in office in 1929. In 1921, he was the Minister presiding over the Department of Health and Minister of Immigration and Colonization.
In 1918, Edwards, and later William Folger Nickle, raised concerns in Parliament about Chief Justice Charles Fitzpatrick's use of a $2,500 allowance to cover travel costs to England to sit as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, despite not attending any sittings. Edwards accused Fitzpatrick of "deliberately stealing from the treasury of the country and putting the money in...[his] own pockets" Fitzpatrick and Prime Minister Robert Borden responded that there was no legal issue and that Fitzpatrick had acted in good faith. When Edwards revived the issue the following year, Fitzpatrick, by then Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, returned the allowance.[1]
References
- ^ Snell, James G. & Vaughan, Frederick (1985). The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution. Toronto: The Osgoode Society. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-8020-3417-5.