Robert Winters

Canadian electrical engineer, army officer, politician and businessman

The Honourable

Robert Winters

Winters, c. 1942-48

Minister of Trade and Commerce
In office
January 4, 1966 – March 29, 1968
Prime Minister| Lester B. Pearson
Preceded by| Mitchell Sharp
Succeeded by| Jean-Luc Pepin (acting)
Minister of Public Works
In office
September 7, 1953 – June 20, 1957
Prime Minister| Louis St. Laurent
Preceded by| Walter Harris (acting)
Succeeded by| Howard Charles Green
Minister of Resources and Development
In office
January 18, 1950 – September 16, 1953
Prime Minister| Louis St. Laurent
Preceded by| Office established
Succeeded by| Jean Lesage
Minister of Reconstruction and Supply
In office
November 15, 1948 – January 17, 1950
Prime Minister| Louis St. Laurent
Preceded by| C. D. Howe
Succeeded by| Office abolished
Member of Parliament
for York West
In office
November 8, 1965 – June 24, 1968
Preceded by| Red Kelly
Succeeded by| Philip Givens
Member of Parliament
for Queens--Lunenburg
(Lunenburg; 1949–1953)
(Queens--Lunenburg; 1945–1949)
In office
June 11, 1945 – June 10, 1957
Preceded by| John James Kinley
Succeeded by| Lloyd Crouse
Personal details
Born|

Robert Henry Winters

(1910-08-18)August 18, 1910
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died| October 10, 1969(1969-10-10) (aged 59)
Monterey, California, U.S.
Political party| Liberal
Spouse|

Eleanor McRobie

(m. 1936)​

Children| 2
Education|

* Mount Allison University (BA)
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MSc)

Profession|

* Engineer

Military service
Allegiance| Canada
Branch/service| Canadian Army
Years of service| 1939–1945
Rank| Lieutenant-colonel
Unit| Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Battles/wars| World War II

Robert Henry Winters PC (August 18, 1910 – October 10, 1969) was a Canadian politician and businessman.

## Life and career

[edit]

Born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the son of a fishing captain, Winters went to Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete his degree in electrical engineering. He worked for Northern Electric before joining the army in World War II, eventually becoming a lieutenant-colonel. He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1945 general election as a Liberal for the riding of Queens—Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. Winters was appointed to Cabinet in 1948, and served as minister of public works, among other portfolios, under Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent.

Defeated along with the St. Laurent government in the 1957 election, Winters entered the corporate world, becoming a chief executive officer at a series of companies. He was hired as a special advisor to the Newfoundland government to help negotiate the Churchill Falls deal, for which he became highly popular in that province.

He was persuaded to return to politics by Lester Pearson, and won the Toronto seat of York West in the 1965 election, becoming minister of trade and commerce in Pearson's government. He was seen as close to the business community and far more fiscally conservative than Walter L. Gordon. He originally announced that he would not seek to replace the retiring Pearson, but changed his mind and ran to succeed Pearson at the 1968 Liberal leadership convention, coming in second to Pierre Trudeau.

Winters then left politics, to become president and director of Brazilian Light and Power and a vice president of CIBC. Also, he was very involved in the new York University and served as the first chair of its board of governors.

## Death

[edit]

In 1969, while in California, he suffered a heart attack during a game of tennis. He died at age 59 in an ambulance on his way to hospital.

Winters College at York University is named in his honour.

## Electoral record

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

1965 Canadian federal election: York West

Party  | Candidate  | Votes | % | ±%
| Liberal | Robert H. Winters | 43,807 | 47.7 | -3.7
| Progressive Conservative | George Hogan | 27,071 | 29.5 | -0.9
| New Democratic | Martha Brewin | 20,993 | 22.9 | +5.5
Total valid votes  | 91,871 | 100.0
1957 Canadian federal election: Queens—Lunenburg

Party  | Candidate  | Votes
| Progressive Conservative | CROUSE, Lloyd R. | 12,372
| Liberal | WINTERS, Robert H. | 12,098
1953 Canadian federal election: Queens—Lunenburg

Party  | Candidate  | Votes
| Liberal | WINTERS, Hon. Robert Henry | 13,053
| Progressive Conservative | RHODENIZER, Frederick LeRoy | 10,067

* v
* t
* e

1949 Canadian federal election: Lunenburg

Party  | Candidate  | Votes
| Liberal | Robert Henry Winters | 8,829
| Progressive Conservative | Melbourne Morton Gardner | 7,527
| Co-operative Commonwealth | George Herbert Crouse | 574
1945 Canadian federal election: Queens—Lunenburg

Party  | Candidate  | Votes
| Liberal | WINTERS, Robert Henry | 9,693
| Progressive Conservative | BEACH, Leaman Clyde | 8,562
| Co-operative Commonwealth | NICHOLSON, John William Angus | 1,295

## References

[edit]

* Marble, A.E. Nova Scotians at home and abroad: biographical sketches of over six hundred native born Nova Scotians (1977) pp. 409–10 ISBN 0-88999-074-3
*   * Robert Winters – Parliament of Canada biography
* Robert Winters fonds, Library and Archives Canada

Parliament of Canada

Preceded by

Clarence Decatur Howe

|  Minister of Reconstruction and Supply
1948–1950  |  Succeeded by

The office of Minister of Reconstruction and Supply was abolished.

Preceded by

None

|  Minister of Resources and Development
1950–1953  | Succeeded by

Jean Lesage

Preceded by

Mitchell William Sharp

|  Minister of Trade and Commerce
1966–1968  | Succeeded by

Jean-Luc Pepin (acting)

* v
* t
* e

Ministers of public works of Canada

Public works
(1867–1996)|

* McDougall
* Langevin
* Mackenzie
* Tupper
* Langevin
* Smith
* Ouimet
* Desjardins
* Tarte
* Sutherland
* Hyman
* Pugsley
* Monk
* Rogers
* Ballantyne
* Carvell
* Reid (acting)
* Sifton
* Reid (acting)
* McCurdy
* Bostock
* King
* Perley
* Ryckman
* Elliott
* Stewart
* P. Cardin
* Michaud (acting)
* Fournier
* Harris (acting)
* Winters
* Green
* Walker
* Green (acting)
* Fulton
* Deschatelets
* L. Cardin
* McIlraith
* Laing
* Dubé
* Drury
* Buchanan
* Ouellet
* Nielsen
* Cosgrove
* LeBlanc
* Lapointe
* La Salle
* McInnes
* Jelinek (acting)
* MacKay
* Dick
* Dingwall
* Marleau1

Public works and government services
(1996–2015)|

* Marleau
* Gagliano
* Boudria
* Goodale
* Owen
* Brison
* Fortier
* Paradis
* Ambrose
* Finley

Public services and procurement
(2015–present)|

* Foote
* Qualtrough
* Anand
* Tassi
* Jaczek
* Jean-Yves Duclos

1As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the minister of supply and services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government Services on July 12, 1995.

* v
* t
* e

Ministers of International Trade of Canada

Trade and commerce (1892–1969)|

* Mackenzie Bowell
* William Bullock Ives
* John Costigan (acting)
* William Bullock Ives
* Richard John Cartwright
* George Eulas Foster
* Henry Herbert Stevens
* James Alexander Robb
* Thomas Andrew Low
* James Alexander Robb (acting)
* Henry Herbert Stevens (acting)
* James Dew Chaplin
* James Malcolm
* Henry Herbert Stevens
* Richard Burpee Hanson
* William Daum Euler
* James Angus MacKinnon
* Clarence Decatur Howe
* Gordon Churchill
* George Harris Hees
* Malcolm Wallace McCutcheon
* Mitchell William Sharp
* Robert Henry Winters
* Jean-Luc Pépin (acting)
* Charles Mills Drury
* Jean-Luc Pépin

Industry (1963–1969)|

* Charles Mills Drury
* Jean-Luc Pépin

Industry, trade and commerce (1969–1983)|

* Jean-Luc Pépin
* Alastair William Gillespie
* Donald Campbell Jamieson
* Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien
* John Henry Horner
* Robert de Cotret
* Herbert Eser Gray
* Edward Lumley

State (international trade) (1979–1980)|

* Michael Wilson

State (trade) (1980–1982)|

* Edward Lumley

State (international trade) (1982–1983)|

* Edward Lumley
* Gerald Regan

International trade (1983–2018)|

* Gerald Regan
* Francis Fox
* James Francis Kelleher
* Patricia Carney
* John Carnell Crosbie
* Michael Wilson
* Thomas Hockin
* Roy MacLaren
* Art Eggleton
* Sergio Marchi
* Pierre Pettigrew
* Jim Peterson
* David Emerson
* Michael Fortier
* Stockwell Day
* Peter Van Loan
* Ed Fast
* Chrystia Freeland
* François-Philippe Champagne

International trade diversification (2018–2019)|

* Jim Carr

International trade (2019–)|

* Mary Ng
* Dominic LeBlanc

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* Netherlands

*[m.]: married
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