Edward Joseph Williams (January 28, 1918 – August 18, 2021) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada.

Biography

Born in Brandon in 1918, he was raised in Fort William, Ontario. He served in various units of the Canadian army between 1939 and 1945; he started as a private in the 4th Canadian Field Ambulance and later obtained his commission at

RMC Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

with the Royal Armoured Corps. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a progressive conservative from 1958 to 1959. Williams was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1958 provincial election in the sprawling northern

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

of Churchill. He defeated

liberal progressive Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

candidate K.D. Wray by 297 votes in a poll that was deferred until after the rest of the province had voted. The Progressive Conservatives won a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

in this election, and Williams became a backbench supporter of Dufferin Roblin's government. He did not seek re-election in 1959, but later went on to become President of the Churchill

Chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

and obtained brief fame by appearing on the CBC National News suggesting that Churchill would be much better off as part of the federally governed

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

(NWT). Williams subsequently became Director of Industrial Development for the

District of Mackenzie The District of Mackenzie was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. The district consisted of the portion of the Northwest Territories directly north of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan on Canada's main ...

of the NWT and then worked with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs until his retirement in 1983. He died in August 2021 in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

British Columbia, at the age of 103.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, E. J. 1918 births 2021 deaths Canadian Army officers Canadian Army personnel of World War II Canadian centenarians Men centenarians Politicians from Brandon, Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps soldiers Canadian military personnel from Manitoba