View source for Stanley Waters

{{short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder 
| honorific-prefix = [[Lieutenant-General]] [[the Honourable]]
| name           = Stanley Waters
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|size=100%|CD}}
| image          =
| image_size     = 
| caption        = 
| birth_name     = Stanley Charles Waters
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1920|6|14}}
| birth_place    = [[Winnipeg]], Manitoba, Canada
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1991|9|25|1920|6|14}}
| death_place    = [[Calgary]], Alberta, Canada
| occupation     = 
| spouse         = Barbara<ref>{{cite news |last1=Alberts |first1=Sheldon |title=Stan Waters' widow looks at Senate bid |work=[[Edmonton Journal]] |date=July 1, 1998 |page=A3 |id={{ProQuest|2402396264}}}}</ref>
| children       = 4
| parents        = 
| alma_mater     =
| party          = [[Reform Party of Canada]]
| office         = [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] from [[Alberta]]
| term_start     = June 11, 1990
| term_end       = September 25, 1991
|rank=[[Lieutenant-general (Canada)|Lieutenant-general]]
|branch= [[Canadian Army]]/[[Canadian Forces]] 
|commands=[[Commander of the Canadian Army|Commander, Mobile Command]]
|nickname=
|allegiance=Canada
|serviceyears=
|laterwork=
|awards=[[Canadian Forces' Decoration]]
}}
'''Stanley Charles Waters''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CD}}  (June 14, 1920 – September 25, 1991) was a Canadian [[Lieutenant-general (Canada)|lieutenant-general]] and politician. Appointed to his Senate seat following a non-binding provincial Senate election, he has been called Canada's "first elected senator".<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 16, 2007 |title=Albertan becomes 2nd elected senator |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/albertan-becomes-2nd-elected-senator-1.691591 |access-date=December 23, 2024 |work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2001 |title=The Canadian Senate in Focus, 1867-2001 |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/committee/391/pub/focus-e |website=Senate of Canada}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Malcolmson |first=Patrick |date=1991 |title=Reflections on Canada's First Senate "Election" |journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=15–17}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born in [[Winnipeg]] and educated at Strathcona High School and the [[University of Alberta]], Waters was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the [[14th Army Tank Battalion (The Calgary Regiment (Tank))]] in 1941.<ref name=tele>{{cite book |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=David Twiston |title=Canada from Afar: The Daily Telegraph Book of Canadian Obituaries |date=1996 |publisher=Dundum |location=Toronto |isbn=1-55002-252-0 |pages=236–239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYEUmMn2uJQC&dq=General+Stanley+Waters&pg=PA236}}</ref> He was then posted to the [[First Special Service Force]].<ref name=tele/> In 1943, using scaling ropes, Waters led his unit up the sheer cliffs of [[Monte la Difensa]] to attack German defences.<ref name=tele/> In February 1944 he landed at [[Anzio]] and, due to Allied losses, temporarily took command of a battalion.<ref name=tele/>

After the war, he rose steadily through the ranks, and ended his career as a [[Lieutenant-general (Canada)|lieutenant-general]] and [[Commander of the Canadian Army|Commander of Mobile Command]] (1973–75). In 1975, he joined Mannix Organization at [[Calgary]], becoming president of Loram Group, a subsidiary of the parent company. He was a co-founder of the Bowfort Group of Companies, which engage in farming, real estate and investment operations throughout Western Canada. He held a variety of executive positions until his retirement from business in 1989.<ref name="CgyHld19910926"/> Waters also was the president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and in 1984 organized a group to purchase a partial share of the [[Calgary Stampeders]] football club.<ref name="CgyHld19910926"/>

==Political career==
Stan Waters was also keenly interested in Canadian politics. In 1987, Waters became a founding member of [[Preston Manning]]'s [[Reform Party of Canada]]. While Waters did not choose to participate as a Reform Party candidate in the [[1988 Canadian federal election|federal election of 1988]], he was seen as one of the party's most popular early spokesmen and policy communicators, speaking at numerous party rallies and events from 1987 to 1991.

In 1989, under strain from the troubling and complex wrangling surrounding the [[Meech Lake Accord]] and constitutional amendment talks, Alberta Premier [[Don Getty]] called for a [[1989 Alberta Senate nominee election|Senate election]].  Stan Waters came forward as the [[Reform Party of Alberta (1989-2004)|Reform Party of Alberta]] candidate for the open Alberta Senate seat. On October 16, 1989, he received 41.7% of the more than 620,000 non-binding votes cast by Albertans in his bid to go to [[Ottawa]].  Although it was a non-binding result, he was selected as the first person to be elected by a provincial population to be the Prime Minister's recommendation to the [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] for appointment to the Senate.<ref>{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=11364|nolist=yes}}</ref> He represented the [[Canadian Senate divisions|senate division]] of [[List of Alberta senators|Alberta]]. Pressured by Getty and Reform, with [[Deborah Grey]] promising that if "we don't get this seat, we'll get 10 in the next election", [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Brian Mulroney]] agreed to advise Governor General [[Ray Hnatyshyn]] to appoint Waters to the Canadian Senate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reforming the Senate |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/reforming-the-senate-1.762459 |access-date=July 15, 2021 |work=[[CBC News]] |date=December 22, 2008}}</ref>

On June 11, 1990, Stan Waters was sworn into the Senate. He was also the first representative of the Reform Party in the Upper House. During his year-long tenure as a senator, Waters spoke for Western Canadian and conservative values. He pushed for an end to official [[bilingualism in Canada|bilingualism]], urged [[health care]] reform, opposed federal funding grants to artists and fervently pushed the Mulroney Government to adopt a "[[Triple-E Senate]]" (elected, effective and equal) during the constitutional debates of 1990–91. On the abortion issue, Waters was pro-choice, which put him somewhat at odds with the Reform Party's conservative Christian supporters.

==Death and legacy==
Waters was admitted to the [[Foothills Medical Centre]] in Calgary to treat in July 1991,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cunningham |first1=Jim |title=Reform senator seriously ill |work=[[Calgary Herald]] |date=July 16, 1991 |page=A2 |id={{ProQuest|2262870595}}}}</ref> and later died of complications at Foothills on September 25.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stan Waters was Canada's first senator to be elected |work=Kitchener - Waterloo Record |date=September 26, 1991 |page=A10}}</ref><ref name="CgyHld19910926">{{cite news |last1=Cunningham |first1=Jim |last2=Geddes |first2=Ashley |title=Waters left legacy of tireless work |work=[[Calgary Herald]] |date=September 26, 1991 |page=A3 |id={{ProQuest|2466288178}}}}</ref>

After Waters' death, Alberta Premier [[Don Getty]] lauded his contribution towards Senate reform, calling the momentum created by his election "unstoppable".<ref name="CgyHld19910926"/>

When the federal [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] was returned to power in the [[1993 Canadian federal election|1993 election]] under party leader [[Jean Chrétien]], Senate reform was all but abandoned. Chrétien and his successor, [[Paul Martin]], did not advise the appointment to the Senate of candidates elected by Albertans in [[1998 Alberta Senate nominee election|1998]] and [[2004 Alberta Senate nominee election|2004]], citing the fact that the elections are not part of the Senate selection process, as defined by the [[Constitution of Canada]].

==Electoral record==
{| class="wikitable"
!  colspan="5" |1989 Alberta Senate nominee election
|-
! colspan="2" |Party
!Candidate
!Votes
!%
|-
{{CANelec|AB|Reform (1989)|[[Stan Waters]]|259,292|41.7%}}
{{CANelec|AB|Liberal|Bill Code|139,809|22.5%}}
{{CANelec|AB|PC|[[Bert Brown]]|127,638|20.5%}}
{{CANelec|AB|Independent|[[Gladys Taylor (publisher)|Gladys Taylor]]|38,534|6.2%}}
{{CANelec|AB|Independent|[[Kenneth Paproski]]|30,849|5.0%}}
{{CANelec|AB|Independent|[[Tom Sindlinger]]|25,491|4.1%}}
{{CANelec/total|Total|621,613|&ndash;}}
{{CANelec/source|hide=Source: {{sfn|Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer|1990|pp=A1–A6}}}}
{{end}}

== Archives ==
There is a Stan Waters [[fonds]] at [[Library and Archives Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Stan Waters fonds |url=http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=212149&lang=eng|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Library and Archives Canada}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[Commander of the Canadian Army|Commander, Mobile Command]]|before=[[William A. Milroy|William Milroy]]|after=[[Jacques Chouinard]]|years=1973–1975}}
|-
{{s-par|ca}}
{{succession box|
 before=[[Donald Cameron (Alberta politician)|Donald Cameron]]|
 title=[[Senate of Canada|Senator]] for [[Alberta]]|
 years=1990–1991|
 after=[[Ron Ghitter]]|}}
{{s-end}}

{{Commander of the Canadian Army}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Stanley}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian military personnel from Manitoba]]
[[Category:Canadian senators from Alberta]]
[[Category:Reform Party of Canada senators]]
[[Category:Canadian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Politicians from Winnipeg]]
[[Category:Canadian senators-in-waiting from Alberta]]
[[Category:University of Alberta alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian generals]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Canadian Army]]
[[Category:Old Scona Academic High School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Senate of Canada]]