Queen was born at Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1882, the son of John Queen and Jane Todd, both natives of Scotland. A cooper by trade, he arrived in Canada in 1906 with his younger brother William, moving into a rooming house at 259 Dorothy St., a stone's throw from the massive Canadian Pacific Railway yards where many working-class Scottish and English immigrants were then employed. He operated a horse-drawn delivery wagon for a laundry. On June 25, 1908, Queen married Katherine Ross, who had herself emigrated from Scotland in 1907. By 1911 the family, which by then included a son John and a daughter Gloria, were living in the working-class neighbourhood of Weston.
Queen was elected to the Winnipeg City Council in 1916, and served on this body representing Ward Five until 1919. In this capacity, he argued for a more progressive tax system, and defended the rights of returning soldiers. He had intended to run for federal office in 1917, but stood aside in the interest of labour unity. Queen was a leading figure in the Winnipeg General Strike, and received a one-year jail sentence for "seditious conspiracy" in 1920. This did not hurt his popularity among the city's workers, and he was elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1920 and later served as mayor of Winnipeg.
In June 1920 while still serving his prison term he was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the ten-member district of Winnipeg. After taking his seat in 1921, he supported a motion to allow "peaceful picketing" within the province; this motion was defeated. The SDPC ceased to exist in 1920. Queen was re-elected in 1922 as an "Independent Workers" candidate, and subsequently joined the Independent Labour Party. When Fred Dixon resigned in 1923, Queen became the ILP's parliamentary leader. Canada's labour movement experienced several setbacks in the late 1920s, and the ILP was not an especially strong electoral force during Queen's time as leader. Only three party members were elected in 1927, all from Winnipeg—Queen, William Ivens and Seymour Farmer. The party fared slightly better in 1932, winning four seats in Winnipeg and taking St. Boniface from veteran Conservative MLA Joseph Bernier. The party made little headway beyond urban areas, however, and remained a relatively small opposition group to the Progressive government of John Bracken.
Mayor
After failed attempts in 1932 and 1933, Queen was elected mayor of Winnipeg in 1934. Queen again campaigned in favour of progressive taxation, and spoke out against a proposed tax reduction for various businesses within the city. Following his election, he passed a tax reform bill that provided for a significant increase in the city's revenues. Queen served as mayor from 1935 to 1936, and again from 1937 to 1942. He did not endorse many explicitly socialist policies during his period in office, instead favouring more general programs of civic improvement. Queen's housing reforms were upheld as a model for the rest of the nation, and he held leading positions in the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities.
Later political career
Queen continued to serve in the provincial legislature during his tenure as mayor, though he turned over the leadership of the party to Seymour Farmer in 1935. Along with the rest of the ILP caucus, he became affiliated with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in 1933. His defeat in the provincial election of 1941 seems to have been unexpected. Queen was also defeated as Winnipeg's mayor in 1942, and lost another bid in 1944. Strong opposition from Winnipeg's Communists was undoubtedly a contributing factor in both cases. He died at home in Winnipeg on July 15, 1946.
