Editing John Robarts

{{Short description|17th Premier of Ontario}}
{{Other people|John Robarts}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| name                = John Robarts
| image               = John Robarts, Premier of Ontario.jpg
| caption             = Robarts in 1960
| order               = 17th
| office              = Premier of Ontario
| term_start          = November 8, 1961
| term_end            = March 1, 1971
| monarch             = [[Elizabeth II]]
| lieutenant_governor = [[John Keiller MacKay]]<br>[[William Earl Rowe]]<br>[[William Ross Macdonald]]
| predecessor         = [[Leslie Frost]]
| successor           = [[Bill Davis]]
| office2             = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
| predecessor2        = ''New riding''
| successor2          = [[Gordon Walker (businessman)|Gordon Walker]]
| term_start2         = June 9, 1955
| term_end2           = October 21, 1971
| constituency2       = [[London North]]
| predecessor3        = [[Campbell Calder]]
| successor3          = ''Riding abolished''
| term_start3         = November 22, 1951
| term_end3           = June 9, 1955
| constituency3       = [[London (provincial electoral district)|London]]
| party               = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]]
| cabinet             = [[Minister without portfolio]] (1958–1959)
| birth_name          = John Parmenter Robarts
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1917|1|11|mf=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Banff, Alberta]], Canada
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1982|10|18|1917|01|11}}
| death_place         = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| resting_place       = [[St. James Cemetery (Toronto)|St. James Cemetery]]
| alma_mater          = [[University of Western Ontario]]<br>[[Osgoode Hall Law School]]
| spouse              = {{hlist|Norah McCormick  (div. 1970s)|Katherine Sickafuse (m. 1976)}}
| children            = Timothy (1956–1977), Robin Hollis Jeffrey (1953–2010)
| allegiance          = Canadian
| branch              = [[Royal Canadian Navy]]
| serviceyears        = 1942–1945
| rank                = [[Lieutenant (Royal Canadian Navy)|Lieutenant]]
| unit                = {{HMCS|Uganda|66|6}}
| commands            = 
| battles             = [[Pacific War]]
| mawards             = 
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|QC|size=100%}}
}}
'''John Parmenter Robarts''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|QC}} (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th [[premier of Ontario]] from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario]].

==Early life==
Robarts was born in [[Banff, Alberta]], to Herbert Roberts and Ellen Florence May Robarts, making him the only Ontario premier not to have been born in Ontario. As a young man, he moved to [[London, Ontario]], with his family, where he studied at Central Collegiate (today, [[London Central Secondary School]]) and at the [[University of Western Ontario]] (UWO) in business administration. While attending UWO, he joined the [[Delta Upsilon]] fraternity.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090912213428/http://www.duwestern.org/page.php?page_id=111786 Delta Upsilon UWO alumni]}}</ref> He played for [[Western Mustangs football]], coached by [[John P. Metras]].<ref>{{cite news|title=John Metras: Former college coach dies|agency=[[The Canadian Press]]|date=April 14, 1982|newspaper=[[The Sun Times (Owen Sound)|The Sun Times]]|location=Owen Sound, Ontario|page=15|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-times-metras-1982/169392058/}}</ref>

Robarts enrolled to study law at [[Osgoode Hall Law School]], but his education was interrupted by service with the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] during [[World War II]]. He served as an officer on  {{HMCS|Uganda|66|6}}. After the war, he returned to law school and graduated in 1948.

==Early political career==
Robarts practiced law in London, Ontario, and was elected to city council in 1948. In 1951, he was elected as a [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada)|member of provincial parliament]] (MPP) to the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]], as a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] (PC) from the city. In that era, MPPs not in cabinet were essentially working part-time due to relatively light legislative duties. Robarts commuted by train from the Queen's Park legislature in [[Toronto]], the provincial capital, to his family and law practice in London, effectively combining his legislative work with his legal career. His wife Norah disliked Toronto and remained at home in London for most of their marriage. The couple raised two children.<ref name="McDougall">''Robarts'', by A. K. McDougall, 1985</ref>

He entered the [[Executive Council of Ontario|cabinet]] of [[Leslie Frost]] in 1958 as [[minister without portfolio]], and was promoted to [[Ministry of Education (Ontario)|minister of education]] in 1959. The province was in the midst of a major building phase with its education system, to accommodate an enormous increase in enrollment following the [[Baby Boomer]] generation of the post-[[World War II]] era, and Robarts played an important role as education minister, with the establishment of new institutions such as [[York University]].<ref name="McDougall" />

==Premier of Ontario==
In 1961, Robarts became the 17th [[premier of Ontario]], and served in that capacity until 1971. He was an advocate of individual freedoms, and promoted the rights of the provinces against the centralizing initiatives of the federal government. He also promoted [[Canadian federalism|national unity]] against [[Quebec sovereignty movement|Quebec separatism]], and hosted the 1967 "Confederation of Tomorrow" conference in [[Toronto]]. Although unsuccessful attempt to achieve an agreement for a new [[Constitution of Canada]], Robarts has been praised for facilitating interprovincial dialogue with Quebec.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 12, 2017 |title=Confederation of Tomorrow 2.0 |url=https://www.tvo.org/transcript/2477175 |access-date=September 7, 2024 |website=TV Ontario}}</ref>

He initially opposed [[Medicare (Canada)|Canadian Medicare]] when it was proposed, but later endorsed it fully following [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]] (NDP) candidate [[Kenneth Bolton]]'s upset [[by-election]] victory on the issue in the London-area riding of [[Middlesex South]].

As a [[civil libertarian]], and a strong believer in the promotion of both official languages, Robarts opened the door to French language education in Ontario schools. In 1972 he was made a Companion of the [[Order of Canada]].

Nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board" during his tenure, Robarts is remembered for his steps to promote and improve education. He was responsible for the construction of five new universities including York University, the establishment of the [[Ontario Science Centre]] and [[Ontario Place]], the creation of numerous [[Normal school|teacher's college]]s, the creation of the community college system, the [[GO Transit]] commuter rail system, introducing [[nuclear power]] to Ontario's electricity grid, and launching the [[Ontario Scholar]] fund for high school students graduating with an A average. Throughout his premiership, Robarts had balanced budgets every year.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com">{{cite news |title=Twenty-five years ago, the end of a double life|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/twenty-five-years-ago-the-end-of-a-double-life/article725827/ |date=October 18, 2007 |first=Steve |last=Paikin |publisher=[[TVOntario]]|access-date=October 29, 2019}}</ref><ref>
The Chairman of the Board: John Robarts @ 50; Steve Paikin, TVO, October 24, 2011</ref>

==Later life==
After retiring from office, Robarts co-chaired the Task Force on Canadian Unity with [[Jean-Luc Pépin]], and joined a Toronto law firm as well as the boards of directors of several major corporations.

He served as chancellor of the [[University of Western Ontario]] from 1971 to 1976. He served as chancellor of York University from 1977 to 1982.

Robarts and his wife divorced in the early seventies, and he remarried to a woman 28 years his junior.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com"/>

Robarts died by [[suicide]] on October 18, 1982. He had been suffering from depression as a result of the 1977 suicide of his son, Timothy, and a series of debilitating [[stroke]]s.<ref name="Robarts Doc">{{cite web |last=Gallagher |first=Noel |title=Robarts 'A man for his time' |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/TV_Shows/L/Life_And_Death_Of_John_Robarts/2001/11/29/733990.html |work=The Life And Death Of John Robarts |publisher=Canoe.ca |access-date=2011-07-02 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115105858/http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/TV_Shows/L/Life_And_Death_Of_John_Robarts/2001/11/29/733990.html |archive-date=2013-01-15 |date=2001-11-29 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

He was given a [[State funerals in Canada|state funeral]] at [[St. Paul's, Bloor Street|St. Paul's Anglican Church]] in Toronto.<ref>{{cite news |title=Last respects |url=https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/objects/307262/last-respects-st-pauls-anglican-church-on-bloor-st-e-wa |access-date=January 22, 2023 |work=The Toronto Star |date=October 21, 1982}}</ref> He is buried in [[St. James Cemetery (Toronto)|St. James Cemetery]].

==Legacy==
The [[Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies]] at [[York University]] was founded in 1984 in his name. The [[Robarts Research Institute|John P. Robarts Research Institute]] (renamed The Robarts Research Institute in 2005) at the University of Western Ontario was officially opened in 1986. Also in [[London, Ontario|London]] is the [[Robarts School for the Deaf]], and the John P. Robarts elementary school. The 16-storey [[Robarts Library|John P. Robarts Research Library]] at the [[University of Toronto]] is also named in his honour.

==Biographies==
University of Western Ontario professor A. K. McDougall authored the first full-length biography: ''Robarts'', in 1985. [[Steve Paikin]] wrote a biography, ''Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts'' (Viking, 2005).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|John Robarts}}
* {{Ontario MPP biography|id=john-parmenter-robarts|old_id=450|name=John Parmenter Robarts}}
* {{occ|2262}}
* [http://oneninefive.blogspot.com/2007/11/tribute-to-john-robarts.html Reference on John Robarts Death]
* [https://aims.archives.gov.on.ca/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/DESCRIPTION_WEB/WEB_DESC_DET?SESSIONSEARCH&exp=sisn%20141 John P. Robarts fonds], Archives of Ontario

{{s-start}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Leslie_Frost}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post1preceded = [[William James Dunlop]]
| post1         = [[Ministry of Education (Ontario)|Minister of Education]]
| post1years    = 1959–1962
| post1note     = 
| post1followed = [[Bill Davis]]
}}
{{S-aca}}
{{Succession box
| before=[[Albert Trueman]]
| title=[[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of the [[University of Western Ontario]]
| years=1971–1976
| after=[[J. Allyn Taylor]]
}}
{{Succession box
| before=[[Walter L. Gordon]]
| title=Chancellor of [[York University]]
| years=1977–1982
| after=[[John S. Proctor]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{ONPremiers}}
{{Ontario PC Leaders}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Robarts, John}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1982 suicides]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian lawyers]]
[[Category:Canadian politicians who died by suicide]]
[[Category:Canadian King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Western Ontario]]
[[Category:Chancellors of York University]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Lawyers in Ontario]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario]]
[[Category:London, Ontario city councillors]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Osgoode Hall Law School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Banff, Alberta]]
[[Category:Premiers of Ontario]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs]]
[[Category:Royal Canadian Navy officers]]
[[Category:University of Toronto people]]
[[Category:University of Western Ontario alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at St. James Cemetery, Toronto]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:Suicides in Ontario]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:Delta Upsilon members]]
[[Category:Western Mustangs football players]]