Wishart McLea Robertson, (February 15, 1891 – August 16, 1967) was a politician in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada.
Robertson's paternal grandfather,
Robert Robertson, was a member of
Nova Scotia House of Assembly
The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...
from 1854 until 1878. His father,
Thomas Robertson was also a member of the provincial legislature, as well as serving 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 ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) from 1882 to 1887. His mother was Josephine Allan.
Born in
Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia, Wishart Robertson was educated in a Nova Scotia high school. He moved to
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, to enter business, but returned to Canada in 1916 to join the 219th Battalion and then the 85th Battalion of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force as a lieutenant. In 1918, he returned to Canada following
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 ...
, and entered the
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarde ...
industry. In 1919, Robertson married Ethel Walker. He eventually became president and manager of Argyle Motor Services Ltd. and of
Robertson Motors Ltd. of
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In 1928, he was elected to the provincial legislature, representing the riding previously held by his father and grandfather before him had represented. He did not run for re-election in 1933. In 1943, he was elected President of the
National Liberal Federation of Canada and was appointed to the
Senate of Canada on February 19 of that year.
Senator Robertson was appointed to the
cabinet as
Leader of the Government in the Canadian Senate and
minister without portfolio in 1945. He served as a delegate to the
General Assembly of the United Nations
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
in 1946. He was active in the civil section of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
(NATO) and helped establish international parliamentary groups to help set out the political, economic, and social goals of NATO.
Robertson was appointed
Speaker of the Senate of Canada
The speaker of the Senate of Canada (french: président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliament ...
in 1953. He continued his efforts with NATO and formed the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association in 1954 with himself as president. He encouraged the formation of similar associations in other countries. He won the 1954
Atlantic Award for outstanding service to the NATO community for his efforts that ultimately led to the formation of the NATO International Parliamentary Association in July 1955. Senator Robertson was Chairman of the founding conference and was elected Honorary Life President of the international association.
Robertson's term as the Senate's speaker ended with the defeat of the Liberal government in the
1957 election. Robertson remained a Senator until his resignation in 1965 due to ill health. He died in
Ottawa at the age of 76.
Archives
There is a Wishart Robertson
fonds
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...
at
Library and Archives Canada.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Wishart
1891 births
1967 deaths
Canadian senators from Nova Scotia
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Liberal Party of Canada senators
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs
People from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia
Speakers of the Senate of Canada