Robert Winters
Canadian electrical engineer, army officer, politician and businessman
title: "Robert Winters" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1910-births", "1969-deaths", "people-from-lunenburg-county,-nova-scotia", "members-of-the-united-church-of-canada", "loomis-chaffee-school-alumni", "mount-allison-university-alumni", "mit-school-of-engineering-alumni", "canadian-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "liberal-party-of-canada-mps", "members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada-from-nova-scotia", "members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada-from-ontario", "20th-century-members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada", "members-of-the-king's-privy-council-for-canada", "20th-century-american-engineers"] description: "Canadian electrical engineer, army officer, politician and businessman" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winters" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Canadian electrical engineer, army officer, politician and businessman ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific-prefix | The Honourable |
| name | Robert Winters |
| honorific-suffix | |
| smallimage | Robert Winters.jpg |
| caption | Winters, c. 1942-48 |
| office | 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 |
| primeminister1 | Louis St. Laurent |
| term_start1 | September 7, 1953 |
| term_end1 | June 20, 1957 |
| predecessor1 | Walter Harris (acting) |
| successor1 | Howard Charles Green |
| office2 | 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 | 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 |
| (Lunenburg; 1949–1953) | |
| (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_place | Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Monterey, California, U.S. |
| party | Liberal |
| children | 2 |
| profession | |
| spouse | |
| education | {{plainlist |
| allegiance | Canada |
| branch | Canadian Army |
| serviceyears | 1939–1945 |
| rank | Lieutenant-colonel |
| unit | Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers |
| battles | World War II |
| :: |
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable | name = Robert Winters | honorific-suffix = | smallimage = Robert Winters.jpg | caption = Winters, c. 1942-48 | office = 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 | primeminister1 = Louis St. Laurent | term_start1 = September 7, 1953 | term_end1 = June 20, 1957 | predecessor1 = Walter Harris (acting) | successor1 = Howard Charles Green | office2 = 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 = 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 (Lunenburg; 1949–1953) (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_place = Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Monterey, California, U.S. | restingplace = | party = Liberal | children = 2 | profession = | spouse = | education = {{plainlist|
- Mount Allison University (BA)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MSc) | nickname = | allegiance = Canada | branch = Canadian Army | serviceyears = 1939–1945 | rank = Lieutenant-colonel | unit = Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers | commands = | battles = World War II | awards =
Robert Henry Winters (August 18, 1910 – October 10, 1969) was a Canadian politician and businessman.
Life and career
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
In 1969, while in California, he suffered a severe heart attack during a game of tennis. He died at age 59 in an ambulance on his way to a hospital.
Winters College at York University is named in his honour.
Electoral record
References
- Marble, A.E. Nova Scotians at home and abroad: biographical sketches of over six hundred native born Nova Scotians (1977) pp. 409–10
- Robert Winters fonds, Library and Archives Canada
|before = Clarence Decatur Howe |title = Minister of Reconstruction and Supply |years = 1948–1950 |after = The office of Minister of Reconstruction and Supply was abolished.}} |before = None |title = Minister of Resources and Development |years = 1950–1953 |after = Jean Lesage}} |before = Mitchell William Sharp |title = Minister of Trade and Commerce |years = 1966–1968 |after = Jean-Luc Pepin (acting)}}
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