Stanley Stewart McKeen (March 18, 1897 – December 1, 1966) was a British Columbia businessman and politician. McKeen was born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He founded the family's

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

business, Straits Towing Limited, and was also chairman of Union Steamships. He also sat on the boards of directors of B.C. Forest Products Ltd, Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. and Decks-McBride Ltd."S.S. McKeen - Liberal senator raised money for war effort", ''Globe and Mail'', December 3, 1966

Political career

McKeen was elected to the

British Columbia Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria. Members are elected from provincial r ...

in the 1933 provincial election as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MLA for

Vancouver-Point Grey Vancouver-Point Grey is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was first contested in the general election of 1933. It was created out of parts of Richmond-Point Grey, South Vancouver and ...

but was defeated in the 1937 election. McKeen also helped found the

Non-Partisan Association The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) ...

, a centre-right municipal political party in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

which has largely dominated civic politics since the late 1930s.''Vancouver Ltd., Volume 33''
by Donald Gutstein, page 131, (1975). 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 ...

he was active helping the government raise money for the war effort and was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

as a

in 1947 by Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

. McKeen sat in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

until his death at the age of 69. McKeen also served as president of the Vancouver

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

in 1943.History of Vancouver
/ref> His son, George McKeen, was a prominent Vancouver businessman in his own right.

References

External links

* 1897 births 1966 deaths British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Businesspeople from British Columbia Canadian senators from British Columbia People from New Westminster 20th-century Canadian businesspeople {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub