Memorable Manitobans: Walter Cocksmith Weir (1929-1985)

Funeral director, MLA (1959-1962), MLA (1963-1966), MLA (1966-1969), Premier of Manitoba (1967-1969), MLA (1969-1973).

Born at High Bluff, Manitoba on 7 June 1929, he was educated there and in Portage la Prairie. In 1953 he moved to Minnedosa, where he owned a funeral home until 1963. He was active in municipal affairs in Minnedosa, serving as Chairman of the Minnedosa Hospital Board (1955-1957) and member of the Minnedosa Town Council (1958-1959). In 1959, he was elected MLA for Minnedosa. He served as Minister of Municipal Affairs (1961-1963), Minister of Public Works (1962-1967), and Minister of Highways (1967).

When Duff Roblin stepped down from the premiership in 1967, Weir was elected as his successor by the Progressive Conservative Party at a convention in November. He was an outspoken fiscal conservative. He and his government were defeated by the NDP under Ed Schreyer in the 1969 election. Soon after, Weir left politics and moved to Ontario, but he returned to Minnedosa in 1976. Two years later he was appointed vice-chair of the Manitoba Public Utilities Board and later to the Manitoba Assessment Review Committee.

He died at Minnedosa on 17 April 1985.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Walter Weir Monument (Minnedosa)

“Walter Weir, 1967-1969 ” by Scott MacNeil in Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries, edited by Barry Ferguson and Robert Wardhaugh, Canadian Plains Research Centre, 2010.

Sources:

Members of the Legislative Assembly (deceased), Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 17 December 2011

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