Robert Stanfield

Robert Stanfield
Stanfield in 1967
Leader of the Opposition
In office
November 9, 1967 – February 21, 1976
Preceded byMichael Starr
Succeeded byJoe Clark
Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
In office
September 9, 1967 – February 21, 1976
Preceded byJohn Diefenbaker
Succeeded byJoe Clark
Member of Parliament
for Halifax
In office
June 25, 1968 – May 21, 1979
Preceded byRiding created
Succeeded byGeorge Cooper
Member of Parliament
for Colchester—Hants
In office
November 6, 1967 – June 24, 1968
Preceded byCyril Kennedy
Succeeded byRiding abolished
17th Premier of Nova Scotia
In office
November 20, 1956 – September 13, 1967
MonarchElizabeth II
Lieutenant GovernorAlistair Fraser
Edward Chester Plow
Henry Poole MacKeen
Preceded byHenry Hicks
Succeeded byG. I. Smith
MLA for Colchester
In office
June 9, 1949 – September 13, 1967
Serving with G. I. Smith
Preceded byGordon Purdy
Robert F. McLellan
Succeeded byGerald Ritcey
Personal details
Born
Robert Lorne Stanfield

(1914-04-11)April 11, 1914
Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
DiedDecember 16, 2003(2003-12-16) (aged 89)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Resting placeCamp Hill Cemetery
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Spouses
  • Joyce Frazee
    (m. 1940; died 1954)
  • Mary Hall
    (m. 1957; died 1977)
  • Anne Austin
    (m. 1978)
Children4
RelativesFrank Stanfield (father)
John Stanfield (uncle)
Frank Thomas Stanfield (brother)
Alma mater
Profession
  • Barrister
  • Ambassador

Robert Lorne Stanfield PC QC FRCGS (April 11, 1914 – December 16, 2003) was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1967 to 1976.

Born into an affluent Nova Scotia clothing manufacturing and political family in Truro, Stanfield graduated from Dalhousie University and Harvard Law School in the 1930s. He was a lawyer before becoming the leader of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party in 1948, with the goal of reviving the party that did not have a single seat in the legislature. After a rebuilding period, Stanfield led the party to a majority government in 1956; their first victory since 1928. Leading the party to four majorities in total, Stanfield's government established Industrial Estates Limited (IEL) to attract new industry in Nova Scotia, introduced hospital insurance and a provincial sales tax (PST) to fund half of it, prioritized human rights for Black Nova Scotians, and drastically increased funding for education.

In 1967, he resigned as premier and was elected the leader of the federal Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, thus becoming the leader of the Official Opposition. In the 1968 federal election, he suffered a landslide defeat to the incumbent Liberals led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In 1972, Stanfield recovered the PCs' standing and narrowly lost to Trudeau for a second time. In 1974, he lost to Trudeau's Liberals for a third time by a wide margin. Stanfield was a strong supporter of bilingualism, putting him at odds with some members of the PC Party. He resigned as leader in 1976 and from politics in 1979.

In retirement, he lived mostly in Ottawa, and campaigned for the Meech Lake Accord, the Charlottetown Accord, and free trade in the 1980s and early 1990s. He died in Ottawa in 2003 from complications due to pneumonia. He was one of only several people granted the style "The Right Honourable" who were not so entitled by virtue of an office held.