Allen Edison Stairs (December 22, 1924 – October 10, 2010) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Known by Edison, after graduating high school he attended the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

but interrupted his education during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to join the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

. He served until after

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

in 1945 and following his discharge from the military settled in

Woodstock, New Brunswick Woodstock is a town in Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada on the Saint John River, 103 km upriver from Fredericton at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River. It is near the Canada–United States border and Houlton, Maine and the inter ...

where he established an insurance business. From a family active in community affairs, his great-uncle Ernest W. Stairs had been a member of the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

from 1935 to 1939. Edison Stairs was elected as the Progressive Conservative Party member for Carleton in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, and

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, sitting as a member of the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

. Reelected in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, his party formed the government led by Premier Richard Hatfield, and Stairs was immediately named to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. He held several positions until 1976 when, as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and Chairman of

NB Power New Brunswick Power Corporation (french: Société d’énergie du Nouveau-Brunswick), operating as NB Power (french: Énergie NB), is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Cro ...

, he resigned from Cabinet to be with his terminally ill wife. Stairs remained a member of the Legislature until 1978 but retired from politics upon the passing of his wife.Obituary
/ref> His cousin,

Gerald Merrithew Gerald Stairs "Gerry" Merrithew (September 23, 1931 – September 5, 2004), born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, was an educator, provincial and federal politician, and statesman. Merrithew graduated from the New Brunswick Teachers' Col ...

, was elected both provincially (1972–1984) and federally (1984–1993).

References

External links

Government of New Brunswick, Department of Agriculture
(PDF file) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stairs, A. Edison 1924 births 2010 deaths Businesspeople from New Brunswick Canadian military personnel of World War II Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick People from Carleton County, New Brunswick Finance ministers of New Brunswick