Francis William Maine (15 September 1937 – 29 September 2018) was a Canadian chemical engineer, a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. He was his party's representative in the House of Commons of Canada. Along with serving as a Member of Parliament, Maine served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Science and Technology. Maine immigrated to Canada from England at the age of 10, and studied Engineering Chemistry at Queen's University. Awarded an Athlone Fellowship, he studied Chemistry at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, earning his PhD. While at Cambridge, Maine earned his Blue as captain of the University of Cambridge Judo team, also competing for Britain. Upon returning to Canada, he worked as a polymer chemist, and became head of Reinforced Plastics R&D at Fibreglass Canada. He was elected at the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

riding in the 1974 general election, serving in the

30th Canadian Parliament The 30th Canadian Parliament was in session from September 30, 1974, until March 26, 1979. The membership was set by the 1974 election on July 8, 1974, and was only changed somewhat due to resignations and by-elections before it was dissolved pr ...

. A key issue for Maine was the role science and innovation policy could play in building Canada’s knowledge economy. Following realignment of ridings, Maine was defeated at the Guelph electoral district in the 1979 federal election by Albert Fish of the Progressive Conservative party. Maine ran for federal Parliament again at the Guelph—Wellington riding, this time as an independent candidate in the 1993 election, but was defeated. After politics, Maine returned to plastics and composites R&D, but this time as a scientist-entrepreneur. He co-invented and commercialized oriented polymer products. He also served on the Science Council of Canada. He died on Sept 29, 2018 in Guelph, leaving behind his wife of nearly 60 years, Mary-Eva Maine, 4 children, and 6 grandchildren. His daughter is academic Elicia Maine. His granddaughter is cyclist Katherine Maine.

References

https://www.lipad.ca/members/record/a181579e-08c7-4a7c-8b99-f2e691029d3d/1/

External links

* 1937 births 2018 deaths Canadian chemists Engineers from Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Canadian chemical engineers 20th-century Canadian engineers 21st-century Canadian engineers People from Hayes, Bromley Scientists from Ontario 20th-century Canadian scientists 21st-century Canadian scientists 20th-century chemists 21st-century chemists English emigrants to Canada {{Liberal-Ontario-MP-stub