Ernest Howard Armstrong

Ernest Howard Armstrong (July 27, 1864 – February 15, 1946) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the ninth Premier of Nova Scotia from 1923 to 1925.

Born in Kingston, Nova Scotia, the son of son of Edward and Sarah A. (Currell) Armstrong, Armstrong studied at Acadia University and Dalhousie University where he received a Bachelor of Laws degree. He was created King's Counsel in 1907. He practiced law in Weymouth, Nova Scotia from 1889 to 1892, and during that period he was also editor of the Weymouth Free Press.

In 1892, he moved to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia where he held the office of vice and deputy United States Consul from 1894 to 1906. He was elected to the town council in 1900 and was the mayor of Yarmouth from 1904 to 1906 when he won a seat in the provincial legislature. He joined the Liberal cabinet of Premier George H. Murray in 1911 serving as minister of public works and then as minister of mines.

In 1923 he succeeded Murray as Premier inheriting a Liberal government that had been in power for forty years. Armstrong was unable to overcome the effects of a serious economic downturn in the region, underestimated the strength of the Maritime Rights Movement and the feelings of alienation among Nova Scotians and also mishandled labour unrest in Cape Breton all of which led to the defeat of his government in the 1925 election. The Liberals won only three seats out of forty-three in the legislature. He died in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

References

• History of Nova Scotia (Volume 3) (1916)