Robert Rogers (Manitoba politician)
Encyclopedia
Robert Rogers, PC
(March 2, 1864 - July 21, 1936) was a Canadian
merchant and politician. He served as a cabinet minister at both the federal and provincial levels.
Rogers was born in Lakefield, Canada East
(now Quebec
), the son of Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers. He was educated in Lachute, Berthier and Montreal
, and later moved to Winnipeg
, Manitoba
to became director of the Monarch Life Assurance Company. In religion, he was a member of the Church of England
.
He contested Lisgar
in the 1896 federal election
as a candidate of the federal Conservative Party
, and lost to Liberal
Robert Lorne Richardson
by fifty-four votes.
Rogers was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
in the 1899 provincial election
as a provincial Conservative
candidate, defeating Liberal candidate J.L. Brown by twenty-eight votes in Manitou. The Conservatives won this election, and Rogers initially sat in the legislature as a backbench supporter of Hugh John Macdonald
's administration. When Rodmond Palen Roblin
succeeded Macdonald as premier
on October 29, 1900, he appointed Rogers as a minister without portfolio
.
On December 20, 1900, Rogers was promoted to the powerful position of Minister of Public Works. He remained in this position for eleven years, and was often regarded as the second most powerful figure in Roblin's cabinet, helping the premier construct an effective patronage network. He was personally re-elected without difficulty in the campaigns of 1903
, 1907
and 1910
.
Rogers turned to federal politics in 1911. The federal Conservative Party under Robert Borden
defeated Wilfrid Laurier
's governing Liberals in the 1911 federal election
, due in part to assistance from Roblin's electoral machine in Manitoba. Although Rogers was not a candidate in the election, he was appointed as Canada's Minister of the Interior
and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs on October 10, 1911. Seventeen days later, he was acclaimed to the House of Commons in a by-election
for Winnipeg
.
Rogers was given additional responsibilities as Minister of Mines on March 30, 1912. On October 29, 1912, he left his other portfolios to become Canada's Minister of Public Works
, a position which he held for a further five years. He did not seek re-election in 1917
.
He attempted to return to the House of Commons for Lisgar in the 1921 election
, but lost to Progressive
candidate John Livingstone Brown
by 1,164 votes.
Rogers was returned to parliament in the 1925 election
, defeating former Liberal premier Tobias C. Norris by 1,617 votes in Winnipeg South
. In the following year's election
, he lost his seat to Liberal John Stewart McDiarmid
by 1,171 votes. He was a candidate at the Conservative Party leadership convention in 1927, and finished fifth out of six candidates.
Rogers won election to the House of Commons for a third time in the 1930 election
, defeating McDiarmid by 343 votes. He was not included in the cabinet of Conservative prime minister
Richard Bennett
, and retired from politics in 1935.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
(March 2, 1864 - July 21, 1936) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
merchant and politician. He served as a cabinet minister at both the federal and provincial levels.
Rogers was born in Lakefield, Canada East
Canada East
Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....
(now Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
), the son of Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers. He was educated in Lachute, Berthier and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and later moved to Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
to became director of the Monarch Life Assurance Company. In religion, he was a member of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
He contested Lisgar
Lisgar (electoral district)
Lisgarwas a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1988. This riding was created following the admission of Manitoba into the Canadian Confederation in 1870....
in the 1896 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1896
The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...
as a candidate of the federal Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
, and lost to Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Robert Lorne Richardson
Robert Lorne Richardson
Robert Lorne Richardson was a Canadian journalist, editor, newspaper owner, author, and politician.Born in Balderson, Lanark County, Upper Canada, the son of Joseph Richardson and Harriet Thompson, Richardson was educated at the Balderson Public School and in 1879 became a journalist working for...
by fifty-four votes.
Rogers was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...
in the 1899 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1899
This was the tenth Manitoba general election and was held on December 7, 1899....
as a provincial Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...
candidate, defeating Liberal candidate J.L. Brown by twenty-eight votes in Manitou. The Conservatives won this election, and Rogers initially sat in the legislature as a backbench supporter of Hugh John Macdonald
Hugh John Macdonald
Sir Hugh John Macdonald, PC was the only surviving son of the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald, and was a politician in his own right, serving as a member of the Canadian House of Commons and a federal cabinet minister, and briefly as the eighth Premier of Manitoba.-Early...
's administration. When Rodmond Palen Roblin
Rodmond Palen Roblin
Sir Rodmond Palen Roblin, KCMG was a businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada .Roblin was born in the town of Sophiasburgh, in Prince Edward County, Canada West . The Roblin family were descended from Dutch American Loyalist farmers Philip and Elizabeth Roblin from Smith's Cove in Orange...
succeeded Macdonald as premier
Premier of Manitoba
The Premier of Manitoba is the first minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. Until the early 1970s, the title "Prime Minister of Manitoba" was used frequently. Afterwards, the word Premier, derived from the French...
on October 29, 1900, he appointed Rogers as a minister without portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
.
On December 20, 1900, Rogers was promoted to the powerful position of Minister of Public Works. He remained in this position for eleven years, and was often regarded as the second most powerful figure in Roblin's cabinet, helping the premier construct an effective patronage network. He was personally re-elected without difficulty in the campaigns of 1903
Manitoba general election, 1903
Manitoba's general election of July 20, 1903 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a second consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, now led by Premier Rodmond Palen Roblin...
, 1907
Manitoba general election, 1907
Manitoba's general election of March 7, 1907 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a third consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by premier Rodmond Palen Roblin...
and 1910
Manitoba general election, 1910
Manitoba's general election of July 11, 1910 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fourth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by premier Rodmond Palen Roblin. Roblin's electoral machine won...
.
Rogers turned to federal politics in 1911. The federal Conservative Party under Robert Borden
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
defeated Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....
's governing Liberals in the 1911 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1911
The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held on September 21 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Canada.-Summary:...
, due in part to assistance from Roblin's electoral machine in Manitoba. Although Rogers was not a candidate in the election, he was appointed as Canada's Minister of the Interior
Minister of the Interior (Canada)
The Minister of the Interior was a cabinet post responsible for federal land management, Indian affairs and natural resources extraction...
and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs on October 10, 1911. Seventeen days later, he was acclaimed to the House of Commons in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for Winnipeg
Winnipeg (electoral district)
Winnipeg was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1882 to 1917.This riding was created in 1882 from parts of Selkirk riding....
.
Rogers was given additional responsibilities as Minister of Mines on March 30, 1912. On October 29, 1912, he left his other portfolios to become Canada's Minister of Public Works
Minister of Public Works (Canada)
The position of Minister of Public Works existed as part of the Cabinet of Canada from Confederation to 1995.As part of substantial governmental reorganization, the position was merged with that of the Minister of Supply and Services to create the position of Minister of Public Works and Government...
, a position which he held for a further five years. He did not seek re-election in 1917
Canadian federal election, 1917
The 1917 Canadian federal election was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Canada. Described by historian Michael Bliss as the "most bitter election in Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription...
.
He attempted to return to the House of Commons for Lisgar in the 1921 election
Canadian federal election, 1921
The Canadian federal election of 1921 was held on December 6, 1921 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader...
, but lost to Progressive
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
candidate John Livingstone Brown
John Livingstone Brown
John Livingstone Brown was a Canadian politician, farmer and minister. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1921 election as a Member of the Progressive Party. He moved to the Liberal-Progressives after the 1926 election and was re-elected in 1930....
by 1,164 votes.
Rogers was returned to parliament in the 1925 election
Canadian federal election, 1925
The Canadian federal election of 1925 was held on October 29 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 15th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party formed a minority government. This precipitated the "King-Byng Affair".The Liberals under...
, defeating former Liberal premier Tobias C. Norris by 1,617 votes in Winnipeg South
Winnipeg South
Winnipeg South is a Canadian federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1979, and since 1988. It covers the south of the city of Winnipeg...
. In the following year's election
Canadian federal election, 1926
The Canadian federal election of 1926 was held on September 14 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called following an event known as the King-Byng Affair...
, he lost his seat to Liberal John Stewart McDiarmid
John Stewart McDiarmid
John Stewart McDiarmid was a Manitoba politician. He held senior ministerial positions in the governments of John Bracken, Stuart Garson and Douglas Campbell, and served as the province's 14th Lieutenant Governor between 1953 and 1960.McDiarmid was born in Perthshire, Scotland, and emigrated to...
by 1,171 votes. He was a candidate at the Conservative Party leadership convention in 1927, and finished fifth out of six candidates.
Rogers won election to the House of Commons for a third time in the 1930 election
Canadian federal election, 1930
The Canadian federal election of 1930 was held on July 28, 1930 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Canada...
, defeating McDiarmid by 343 votes. He was not included in the cabinet of Conservative prime minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Richard Bennett
R. B. Bennett
Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
, and retired from politics in 1935.