George Black

Who was George Black?

George Black, PC was an administrator and politician in Yukon, Canada. He went to Yukon in 1898 during the Gold Rush and prospected for gold, making a fortune and losing it when his claim was swept away in a flood. He then established a law practice in Dawson City. He was elected to the Yukon council in 1905, and first ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1908 federal election but was defeated.

In the 1911 federal election he was H.H. Stevens' campaign manager, and was rewarded by the government of Robert Laird Borden by being appointed to the position of Commissioner of the Yukon. As Commissioner from 1912 to 1915, he tried to bring in legislation to protect miners, loggers and others who worked for companies that went bankrupt.

During World War I, Black recruited a regiment from the Yukon to fight in the war. He became the company's Captain, and was wounded in combat.

Following the war, he settled in British Columbia in 1919, and ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

He first won a seat in Parliament in the 1921 election as a Conservative. As a Member of Parliament, he introduced legislation to give Yukoners the right to trial by jury and to protect mining titles.