Robert Barclay "Bart" Pow (July 7, 1883 – April 25, 1958) 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 served as mayor of Fort William from 1933 to 1936. He was born in

Emerson, Manitoba Emerson is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district in south central Manitoba, Canada, located within the Municipality of Emerson – Franklin. It has a population of 678 as of the 2016 Canada census. Location and transpor ...

and was educated in Manitoba. He began work at the Northern Elevator Company in Emerson and moved to Fort William in 1908, continuing to work with

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

companies. He was promoted to superintendent, then manager and finally director. Pow was named to the team that represented the

Manitoba Curling Association Curl Manitoba (formerly the Manitoba Curling Association) is the organization responsible for curling in the province of Manitoba. Its stated mission is "to promote, develop and grow the sport of curling in Manitoba, Canada and the world by provid ...

at the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

. That year,

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

was a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

. Pow was second for the team which took first place in the event. The Manitoba team was undefeated, winning all four of its games at the Olympics. In 2004, the team was inducted into the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

. Pow served six years on the Fort William public school board. He was a member of Fort William council from 1929 to 1932 and 1937 to 1940. He ran for mayor again in 1941, losing to Chisholm Mackenzie Ross. During his term as mayor, a white cross was erected on

Mount McKay Mount McKay is a mafic sill located south of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, on the Indian reserve of the Fort William First Nation. It is the highest, most northern and best known of the Nor'Wester Mountains. It formed during a period of magmati ...

to commemorate the contribution of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

soldiers during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Pow also convinced the

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters sp ...

to reverse their decision to not allow an airport in Fort William. In 1945, he ran unsuccessfully for the Fort William seat in the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative, finishing third behind Dan McIvor and Wilfred McKenzie. Pow also served as president of the Fort William Conservative Party Association. He died in Fort William at the age of 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pow, Robert 1883 births 1958 deaths Mayors of Fort William, Ontario Curlers at the 1932 Winter Olympics Olympic curlers of Canada Curlers from Manitoba Curlers from Thunder Bay People from Emerson, Manitoba Canadian sportsperson-politicians