William Alexander McKenzie

Who was William Alexander McKenzie?

William Alexander McKenzie was a builder and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Similkameen in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1918 to 1933 as a Conservative.

He was born in Puslinch, Ontario, the son of William McKenzie and the former Miss Mary Brown, and was educated there. In 1910, McKenzie married Florence Mary Thompson the daughter of James W. Thompson and Isabella Murray McMillan. . He was a resident of Penticton from 1906 and served as reeve in 1917. McKenzie was first elected to the provincial assembly in a 1918 by-election held after Lytton Wilmot Shatford was named to the Canadian senate. He was a member of provincial cabinet, serving as Minister of Mines and Minister of Labour. He moved to Victoria after being named to cabinet. McKenzie was defeated by Charles Herbert Percy Tupper when he ran for reelection in 1933. He died in Victoria. One of his four children, Hon. Lloyd George McKenzie, Q.C., after retiring from the bench of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1993, acted for ten years as Information Officer for the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, a position without precedent.