View source for Robert Winters

{{Short description|Canadian electrical engineer, army officer, politician and businessman}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{for|the Scottish former footballer|Robbie Winters}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = Robert Winters
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}
| smallimage       = Robert Winters.jpg
| caption          = Winters, c. 1942-48
| office           = [[Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry#Preceding offices|Minister of Trade and Commerce]]
| primeminister    = [[Lester B. Pearson]]
| term_start       = 	January 4, 1966
| term_end         = March 29, 1968
| predecessor      = [[Mitchell Sharp]]
| successor        = [[Jean-Luc Pepin]] (acting)
| office1          = [[Minister of Public Works (Canada)|Minister of Public Works]]
| primeminister1      = [[Louis St. Laurent]]
| term_start1         = September 7, 1953
| term_end1           = June 20, 1957
| predecessor1        = [[Walter Edward Harris|Walter Harris]] (acting)
| successor1          = [[Howard Charles Green]]
| office2          = [[Minister of Resources and Development (Canada)|Minister of Resources and Development]]
| primeminister2      = Louis St. Laurent
| term_start2         = 	January 18, 1950
| term_end2           =  September 16, 1953
| predecessor2        = ''Office established''
| successor2          = [[Jean Lesage]]
| office3             = [[Department of Munitions and Supply|Minister of Reconstruction and Supply]]
| primeminister3      = Louis St. Laurent
| term_start3         = November 15, 1948
| term_end3           =  January 17, 1950
| predecessor3        = [[C. D. Howe]]
| successor3          = ''Office abolished''
| riding4          = [[York West]]
| parliament4      = Canadian
| term_start4      = November 8, 1965
| term_end4        = June 24, 1968
| predecessor4     = [[Red Kelly]]
| successor4       = [[Philip Givens]]
| riding5          = [[Queens--Lunenburg]]<br />{{small|([[Lunenburg (federal electoral district)|Lunenburg]]; 1949–1953)}}<br />{{small|([[Queens--Lunenburg]]; 1945–1949)}}
| parliament5      = Canadian
| term_start5      = June 11, 1945
| term_end5        = June 10, 1957
| predecessor5     = [[John James Kinley]]
| successor5       = [[Lloyd Crouse]]
| birth_name        = Robert Henry Winters
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1910|08|18}}
| birth_place      = [[Lunenburg, Nova Scotia]], Canada
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1969|10|10|1910|08|18}}
| death_place      = [[Monterey]], [[California]], U.S.
| restingplace        = 
| party               = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
| children            = 2
| profession          = {{hlist|Engineer}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|Eleanor McRobie|1936}}
| education           = {{plainlist|
* [[Mount Allison University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
* [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[Master of Science|MSc]])
}}
<!--Military service-->| nickname            = 
| allegiance          = [[Canada]]
| branch              = [[Canadian Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1939–1945
| rank                = [[Lieutenant-colonel (Canada)|Lieutenant-colonel]]
| unit                = [[Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers|Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers]]
| commands            = 
| battles             = [[World War II]]
| awards              = 
}}

'''Robert Henry Winters''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} (August 18, 1910 – October 10, 1969) was a Canadian fisherman, politician, and businessman.

==Life and career==
Born in [[Lunenburg, Nova Scotia|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 of Canada|House of Commons]] in the [[1945 Canadian federal election|1945 general election]] as a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] for the [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Queens—Lunenburg]] in Nova Scotia. Winters was appointed to [[Canadian Cabinet|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 Canadian federal election|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 and Labrador|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 Canadian federal election|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 Party of Canada leadership election|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 [[Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce|CIBC]]. Also, he was very involved in the new [[York University]] and served as the first chair of its board of governors.

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

Winters College at [[York University]] is named, movingly, in his honour.

== Electoral record ==
{{1965 Canadian federal election/York West}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1957|Queens—Lunenburg}}
{{CANelec|CA|PC|[[Lloyd Crouse|CROUSE, Lloyd R.]]|12,372}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|WINTERS, Robert H. |12,098}}
{{end}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1953|Queens—Lunenburg}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|WINTERS, Hon. Robert Henry |13,053}}
{{CANelec|CA|PC|RHODENIZER, Frederick LeRoy |10,067}}
{{end}}
{{1949 Canadian federal election/Lunenburg}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1945|Queens—Lunenburg}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|WINTERS, Robert Henry |9,693}}
{{CANelec|CA|PC|BEACH, Leaman Clyde |8,562}}
{{CANelec|CA|CCF|NICHOLSON, John William Angus |1,295}}
{{end}}

== References ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090629180709/http://www.ourroots.ca/e/toc.aspx?id=8794 Marble, A.E. ''Nova Scotians at home and abroad: biographical sketches of over six hundred native born Nova Scotians'' (1977)] pp.&nbsp;409–10 {{ISBN|0-88999-074-3}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=991}}
* [http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=105740&lang=eng Robert Winters fonds, Library and Archives Canada]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|ca}}
{{succession box
|before = [[Clarence Decatur Howe]]
|title = [[Minister of Reconstruction and Supply]]
|years = 1948–1950
|after = The office of Minister of Reconstruction and Supply was abolished.}}
{{succession box
|before = None
|title = [[Minister of Resources and Development]]
|years = 1950–1953
|after = [[Jean Lesage]]}}
{{succession box
|before = [[Mitchell William Sharp]]
|title = [[Minister of Trade and Commerce]]
|years = 1966–1968
|after = [[Jean-Luc Pepin]] (acting)}}
{{s-end}}

{{CA-Ministers of Public Works}}
{{CA-Ministers for International Trade}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Robert}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Members of the United Church of Canada]]
[[Category:Loomis Chaffee School alumni]]
[[Category:Mount Allison University alumni]]
[[Category:MIT School of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]