James Garfield Gardiner was born in Huron County, Ont., before moving to Saskatchewan. There, he became the province’s fourth premier in 1926.
In 1935, Prime Minister Lyon Mackenzie King made Gardiner his agriculture minister – a position Gardiner held for 22 years until 1957.
While at the helm of the ag portfolio, Gardiner implemented the Prairie Farm Assistance Act in 1939, which provided direct payments to farmers who suffered low yields through uncontrollable circumstances.
The Wheat Acreage Reduction Act of 1942 implemented grain delivery quotas to overcome wartime surpluses. Farmers received payments for losses while additional payments encouraged planting coarse grains.
The Agricultural Prices Support Act of 1944 created a board to market products and provided payments for farmers during post-war transitions.