Rodmond Roblin

Sir Rodmond Palen Roblin, KCMG (* February 15, 1853 in Sophia Pittsburgh, Upper Canada, † February 16, 1937 in Hot Springs, Arkansas) was a Canadian politician and businessman. From 1888 to 1892 and from 1896 to 1915 he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. In October 1900 he went to the office of prime minister and practiced this out until May 1915. During this period he was also Chairman of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba. A corruption scandal in the construction of the parliament building in Winnipeg forced him to resign. His nephew Dufferin Roblin ruled the province of 1958 until 1967.

Biography

Palens family came from holländischstämmigen loyalists from Orange County from (New York), the (Ontario today ) were pulled late 18th century to Upper Canada. After completing his training at Albert College in Belleville Palen moved to Manitoba. In Winnipeg and later in Carman, he went to various business activities, including as a grain dealer and owner of a department store. For five years he was mayor of the rural town of Dufferin. As a member of the Manitoba Liberal Party in December 1886 he was a candidate in elections to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, but was defeated. Finally, he won a by-election in the constituency of North Dufferin May 1888.

Dissatisfied with the railway policy of the Liberal Prime Minister Thomas Greenway, Palen joined in July 1889 the opposition Conservatives, where he quickly took a leading role. But with the new elections in July 1892, he lost his seat in Parliament. In January 1896 he moved back to parliament, this time for the constituency Woodlands. In the elections in December 1899, the Conservatives won just the majority and Hugh John Macdonald became the new prime minister. Only eleven months later, Macdonald stepped back to ( ultimately unsuccessful ) to compete at the general election in 1900. Roblin took over on 29 October 1900 by Macdonald, the Office of the Prime Minister of Manitoba. He was also the railway Commission and appointed himself Minister of Agriculture. He held the three most influential posts in the Cabinet.

Roblin reigned at a time when social and economic changes. The large population growth required new public services such as hospitals and schools; added was a massive expansion of transport and communication infrastructure. Given the high cost and inefficiency of the telephone system in 1908, the assets of the Bell Telephone Company were nationalized, whereby the first run of a provincial company in Canada was born. Two years later, the government started the construction of dozens of new grain elevators to meet the demand for storage capacity.

The Conservative government was progressive in economic terms, but not in social issues. Roblin argued strongly against women's suffrage, and had in public violent clashes with the prominent suffragette Nellie McClung. During labor, he spoke also against improvements and even took steps to undermine the existing laws. His predecessor Macdonald had issued a prohibition law, but Roblin hesitated to enforce it consistently, since the sale of alcohol accounted for a substantial part of the revenue of the provincial government. A referendum on the abolition of Prohibition in 1902 fell slightly in his favor.

1914 could the Conservatives elections only just decide for themselves. A year earlier, the construction of a new parliament building had been decided, but the cost soon fell out of control. After the opposition had vainly called for an investigation, they turned to Lieutenant Governor Douglas Colin Cameron. This set up a commission of inquiry, which found numerous references to corrupt machinations after a short time. Under pressure from the public was forced to resign from political office Roblin on 12 May 1915. Tobias Norris formed a transitional government and led the Liberals in early elections to an overwhelming victory. Roblin was indicted but later acquitted.