Yukon who is who

William Wallace Burns “Billy” McInnes (1871 – 1954)

William McInnes was born in Dresden, Ontario to Thomas Robert McInnes.¹⁾ His father was Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1897 to 1900.²⁾ McInnes studied at the University of Toronto and was the youngest student to graduate at that time. He studied law at Osgood Hall, passed the bar in 1893 and practiced law in Nanaimo and Vancouver.³⁾ In 1896, he was elected as a Liberal to the Canadian Parliament for Vancouver. In 1900, he was for five years an elected member of the British Columbia Legislature for Port Alberni. He was provincial secretary and Minister of Education in Victoria.⁴⁾

William McInnes was Commissioner of the Yukon from May 1905 to January 1907. During his term, the Miners Lien Bill was brought into law, providing guarantees for employees working in the gold fields. Some of the mining concessions were cancelled for non-compliance, and a Railway Committee ordered reductions in White Pass & Yukon Route freight rates. McInnes introduced a resolution calling for a wholly elected Yukon Council but the Minister of the Interior, Frank Oliver countered with the fact that Dawson residents had rescinded their city charter the year before and therefore were not concerned with elected representatives. McInnes then voted with his supervisor against the resolution. There a conflict between McInnes, who supported local dancehalls, and Judge Dugas who favoured Dawson’s gambling interests. Mounted Police Major Wood requested a transfer to escape the disagreement. McInnes requested reductions in the civil service and police ranks to match the Yukon’s declining population and bureaucrats appointed by Congdon, the previous Commissioner, accused him of public drunkenness and visits to dance halls. A House of Commons inquiry exonerated McInnes but it caused embarrassment for Minister Oliver. McInnes and his family left for Ottawa in the fall of 1906, the Commissioner’s residence suffered a disastrous fire on December 25th, and McInnes resigned as Commissioner on December 31st.⁵⁾ J.T. Lithgow took over as acting Commissioner until a successor was appointed.⁶⁾

McInnes worked for the Guggenheim Corporation on a one-year contract to advance their Yukon interests. Between 1909 and 1917 he was a judge for the Vancouver County Court.⁷⁾ McInnes ran for office in the House of Commons in 1908, 1917 and 1921 but was defeated in all elections. He served as police magistrate between 1944 and 1954 and was known for his harsh sentences.⁸⁾