Foster McCabe

Manitoba Governor Foster McCabe.

Foster McCabe was Governor of Manitoba in the 1920s. A member of the Liberal Party, McCabe was an intelligent politician who was associated in the public mind with Governor-General Henderson Dewey. McCabe benefited from the internal migration sponsored by the Galloway Plan, which increased Manitoba's share of seats in the Grand Council, and increased the size of the confederation's Liberal majority. Sobel describes him as personally popular, unsophisticated but aware of his limitations, and an unquestioning supporter of all of Dewey's programs.

Following Dewey's death on 10 May 1929, McCabe was a leading contender to replace him as governor-general. He would have been an ideal interim governor-general who could have held the Liberal Party and the Confederation of North America together until the next election. However, the timing of Dewey's death worked against McCabe. The Grand Council was not in session at the time, and half of the Liberal caucus was away from Burgoyne.

In spite of this, on the afternoon of Dewey's death, Majority Leader John Jenckinson announced that the Liberal caucus would convene the following morning, and would not adjourn until a new governor-general was selected. It was not until the morning of 12 May that a quorum of 71 Liberal councilmen was achieved. With ten Manitoban councilmen still absent, the caucus chose Minister for Home Affairs Douglas Watson as governor-general. It was not until the next day that the remainder of the Liberal caucus arrived in Burgoyne.