Wesley Irwin Haskett (April 22, 1903 – March 23, 1994) was a politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1959 to 1971 who represented the riding of

Ottawa South Ottawa South (french: Ottawa-Sud) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by David McGuinty, brother of former Premier of Ontario and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty ...

. He was a cabinet minister in the government of

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

Background

He was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, the son of Samuel Wesley Haskett, and was educated at

Lisgar Collegiate Institute Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal. History In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students was ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. He became an attorney specializing in patent law. In 1936, he married Vera Moorhead. Haskett was a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. Vera died in 1970 and Haskett remarried Mary Costache. Haskett was active in the Ottawa community serving as president of the Ottawa Board of Trade and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the founders of the annual Tulip Festival in Ottawa which he regularly attended. His wife Mary said, "We always went to look at the tulips." He died in 1994.

Politics

In the 1959 provincial election, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of

. He defeated Liberal candidate Archibald Laidlaw by 1,936 votes. He was re-elected in 1963 and 1967. He retired from office in 1971. On November 8, 1961, he was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Reform Institutions. On August 14, 1963 he was reassigned as

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

. He continued as Minister until 1971 when

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

decided to drop him from his cabinet.

Cabinet positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haskett, Wesley I 1903 births 1994 deaths Politicians from Ottawa Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Lisgar Collegiate Institute alumni