Irwin Haskett Explained

Irwin Haskett
Office:Ontario MPP
Term Start:1959
Term End:1971
Predecessor:George Dunbar
Successor:Claude Bennett
Constituency:Ottawa South
Party:Progressive Conservative
Birth Name:Wesley Irwin Haskett
Birth Date:22 April 1903
Birth Place:Ottawa, Ontario
Occupation:Lawyer
Spouse:Vera Moorhead (d. 1970)
Mary Costache (d. 2011)

Wesley Irwin Haskett (April 22, 1903  - March 23, 1994) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1959 to 1971 who represented the riding of Ottawa South. He was a cabinet minister in the government of Leslie Frost.

Background

He was born in Montreal, the son of Samuel Wesley Haskett, and was educated at Lisgar Collegiate Institute in Ottawa. He became an attorney specializing in patent law. In 1936, he married Vera Moorhead. Haskett was a freemason.[1] Vera died in 1970 and Haskett remarried Mary Costache.[2]

Haskett was active in the Ottawa community serving as president of the Ottawa Board of Trade and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the founders of the annual Tulip Festival in Ottawa which he regularly attended. His wife Mary said, "We always went to look at the tulips." He died in 1994.[3]

Politics

In the 1959 provincial election, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Ottawa South. He defeated Liberal candidate Archibald Laidlaw by 1,870 votes.[4] He was re-elected in 1963 and 1967. He retired from office in 1971.[5] On November 8, 1961, he was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Reform Institutions.[6] On August 14, 1963 he was reassigned as Minister of Transport.[7] He continued as Minister until 1971 when Bill Davis decided to drop him from his cabinet.[8]

Cabinet positions

Notes and References

  1. Book: Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1968 . PG Normandin . 1968.
  2. News: Obituary: Mary Haskett (nee Costache) . The Globe and Mail . January 14, 2011 . S6.
  3. News: Tulip Festival originator dies at 90 after active life . The Ottawa Citizen . March 25, 1994 . A2.
  4. News: Canadian Press . Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies . The Ottawa Citizen . June 12, 1959 . Ottawa . 26 .
  5. News: Retirement is announced by Haskett . The Globe and Mail . Apr 27, 1971 . 2.
  6. News: The New Cabinet . The Globe and Mail . November 9, 1961 . 6.
  7. News: 3 Ministers Shuffled By Robarts . The Globe and Mail . August 15, 1963 . 1.
  8. News: Changes in policies promised: Davis priorities to include environment and jobless . Manthorpe . Jonathan . Slinger . John . The Globe and Mail . March 2, 1971 . 1.