John Robarts
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| Image:Robarts.jpg | |
| Rank: | 17th |
| Term of Office: | November 8, 1961 - March 1, 1971 |
| Predecessor: | Leslie Frost |
| Successor: | William Davis |
| Date of Birth: | January 11, 1917 |
| Place of Birth: | Banff, Alberta |
| Date of Death: | October 18, 1982 |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political Party: | PC |
John Parmenter Robarts, PC , CC , QC , LL.D (January 11, 1917 - October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and statesman, and Premier of Ontario.
Robarts was born in Banff, Alberta. As a young man, he moved to London, Ontario with his family, where he studied at Central Collegiate (today, London Central Secondary School) and the University of Western Ontario.
He enrolled at Osgoode Hall Law School to study law, but his education was interrupted by service with the Royal Canadian Navy during the World War II. He served as an officer on the HMCS Uganda. After the war, he returned to university, graduating in 1948.
He practised law in London, Ontario, and was elected a city alderman. In 1951, he was elected as an Ontario Progressive Conservative Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He entered the cabinet of Leslie Frost in 1958 as minister without portfolio and was promoted to Minister of Education in 1959.
In 1961, he became the 17th premier of Ontario, and served in that capacity until 1971. A popular leader, Robarts epitomized power and dignity. He was an advocate of individual freedoms and promoted the rights of the provinces against the centralizing initiatives of the federal government while also promoting national unity against Quebec separatism and hosted the 1967 "Confederation of Tomorrow" conference in Toronto in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve an agreement for a new Constitution of Canada.
He initially opposed Canadian Medicare when it was proposed, but later endorsed it fully. As a civil libertarian, and a strong believer in the promotion of both official languages, he opened the door to French education in Ontario schools. In 1972 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Remembered for his steps to promote and improve education, he was responsible for the construction of York University, the Ontario Science Centre, the expansion of numerous teacher colleges, and launching the Ontario Scholarship fund.
After retiring from office, John Robarts co-chaired the Task Force on Canadian Unity with Jean-Luc Pépin before joining the boards of directors of several major corporations.
Later in his life, he suffered a series of debilitating strokes, and took his own life on October 18, 1982.
The John P. Robarts Research Institute (renamed The Robarts Research Institute in 2005) at the University of Western Ontario was officially opened in 1986. He served as Chancellor of UWO from 1971 to 1976. Also in London is the Robarts School for the Deaf, and the John P. Robarts elementary school. The 14-storey John P. Robarts library at the University of Toronto is also named in his honour.
Steve Paikin wrote a biography, Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts (Viking, 2005).
External links
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Categories: 1917 births | 1982 deaths | Canadian lawyers | Canadian university and college chancellors | Historical Ontario MPPs | Leaders of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party | London, Ontario | Londoners (Ontario) | Members of the Order of Canada | Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada | Ontario premiers | Politicians who committed suicide | Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs | University of Western Ontario alumni