Rodmond Palen Roblin
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Sir Rodmond Palen Roblin, KBE (February 15, 1853-February 16, 1937) was a businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada .
Roblin was born in the town of Sophiasburgh, in Prince Edward County, Canada West. He arrived in Winnipeg in 1877, and became a successful entrepreneur within the city. He entered provincial politics in the election of 1886, running as a Liberal Party candidate against Conservative Cabinet Minister David Wilson in Dufferin South. Roblin lost this race by 5 votes, but entered the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba by winning a subsequent by-election on May 12, 1888.
The by-election took place shortly after Thomas Greenway was inaugurated as Manitoba's first Liberal premier. Roblin was a supporter of Greenway, and was re-elected by acclamation when the new premier called another provincial election for July.
Although Greenway won this election by a landslide majority, he was unable to fulfill a campaign promise for the development of local railways. While it had lost its official monopoly, the Canadian Pacific Railway was still the dominant line in the region, and transportation costs remained high. Confronted with this failure, Roblin abandoned the government in 1889, and joined the Manitoba Conservative Party. With the death of John Norquay the same year, he emerged as one of the party's leading spokesmen. The Conservatives did not have an official leader in this period, but Roblin seems to have been their most dominant voice in parliament between 1890 and 1892.
In opposition, Roblin spoke against Greenway's education reforms. Greenway, repudiating an earlier pledge, had withdrawn state support for Catholic and French-language education. His reforms triggered a national political crisis, known as the Manitoba Schools Question. Although many francophones throughout Canada regarded Greenway's policy as discriminatory, it was extremely popular with Manitoba's anglophone/Protestant majority. Greenway's government was re-elected in 1892, and Roblin was personally defeated in the rural riding of Morden.
Greenway won another landslide in 1896 (again campaigning on the education question), but Roblin was returned to the legislature for the riding of Woodlands. He became the parliamentary leader of the Conservatives, but did not challenge Hugh John Macdonald for the official leadership of the party in 1897.
The provincial election of 1899 was very different from the previous two campaigns. With the schools question having been resolved in 1896, Greenway was forced to defend a fairly mediocre record on other issues against an organized opposition. The result was a narrow victory for Macdonald's Conservatives, who won 22 of 40 seats. Macdonald was inaugurated as Premier early in 1900; Roblin, who was re-elected in Woodlands, was a curious omission from cabinet.
Any disappointment on Roblin's part was short-lived. Macdonald resigned as Premier on October 29, 1900 to run (unsuccessfully) for the federal Conservative Party in Brandon. Roblin was sworn in as Premier in his place, and also took the powerful cabinet position of Railway Commissioner. In December, he appointed himself Minister of Agriculture as well. This consolidation of power reflected Roblin's authority over both the government and the provincial Conservative Party -- his control over both would be unquestioned for the next fourteen years.
Whereas Greenway had won landslide elections through single-issue populism, Roblin relied on "machine politics" for his electoral successes. Despite (or because of) a certain degree of coercion, he was able to effectively dispense patronage and could depend on the support of many loyal followers at the community level.
In 1903, Roblin's Conservatives won 31 seats to 9 for the Liberals. The extent of this victory may be credited to Thomas Greenway's continued leadership of the Liberal Party -- Greenway was disinterested in provincial politics by this time, and was spending much of his time looking for a federal patronage appointment. Roblin's machine also coasted to easy victories in 1907 and 1910, winning 28 of 41 seats on both occasions.
Roblin played a crucial role in the 1911 federal election on reciprocity by putting his electoral machine at the disposal of the federal Conservatives, helping to defeat Sir Wilfrid Laurier and put Robert Borden in power. Borden, in turn, enacted legislation to expand Manitoba's boundaries to its current limit.
Like his counterpart James Whitney in Ontario, Roblin expanded the role of government in Manitoba and promoted many initiatives that would be regarded today as progressive. As railway commissioner, he reached an agreement with Canadian Northern Railways to build an alternate route to the Lakehead, and put control of the rates into the hands of the province. His government also promoted significant expansions in health, education and road services (all of which were required to service Manitoba's rapidly increasing population).
Roblin's Tories created Manitoba's first crown corporations, expropriating Bell's telephone services to create a state-owned system -- the first effective public utilities system in Canada. The government also started a state-owned system of grain elevators to assist farmers, but was less successful in this endeavour. A scandal involving these elevators weakened his government's hold on power in the early 1910s.
Roblin was more conservative on social issues. He is usually remembered today for resisting demands for women's suffrage and clashing with Nellie McClung on the issue (McClung famously made Roblin appear foolish in her "parliament of women", which parodied the Premier's patronizing remarks on gender roles). Roblin also resisted demands to enact a labour code to protect workers, and was sometimes reluctant to enforce the province's existing legislation.
Roblin's handling of the prohibition issue was also controversial. Although usually regarded as reactionary today, prohibition was supported by many late-period Victorians, particularly within the evangelical Protestant community. Hugh John Macdonald's government had enacted prohibition in 1900 after two separate referendums had confirmed public support for this position. Roblin was reluctant to enforce the legislation, however, because his government received significant revenues from the sale of alcohol. He called a third referendum in 1902; outraged temperance supporters boycotted the poll, and prohibition was defeated by a narrow margin.
The election of 1914 was a watershed in Manitoba politics. Roblin's government was weakened by a scandal involving the construction of a new legislative building (the accusations concerned misappropriation of funds and overspending). The Conservatives were re-elected on June 10, but by a much narrower margin — winning 28 seats to 20 for the Liberals in an expanded parliament.
Roblin refused to call a commission of enquiry into the scandal, resulting in the Liberal opposition petitioning the lieutenant-governor for action. The lieutenant-governor himself called an enquiry which found Roblin's government responsible. Roblin submitted his resignation in May 1915, and Liberal leader Tobias C. Norris was asked to form a government. Roblin did not run in the subsequent election (which the Liberals won in a landslide). He died in 1937.
Sir Rodmond Roblin is the grandfather of another Manitoba premier, Dufferin Roblin.
| Preceded by: Sir Hugh John Macdonald | Premier of Manitoba 1900-1915 | Succeeded by: Tobias C. Norris |