The son of James Dixon Weir, Walter Weir was born in Hugh Bluff, Manitoba and was educated there and in the City of Portage la Prairie.
22 Facts About Walter Weir
1.
2.
Walter Weir worked as an undertaker in Saskatchewan, later returning to Manitoba where he became the owner of his own funeral home in Minnedosa in 1953.
3.
Walter Weir served as chairman of the Minnedosa Hospital Board from 1955 to 1957, and of the Minnedosa Town Council from 1958 to 1959.
4.
Walter Weir died in the evening of April 17,1985 of a suspected heart attack at his home in Minnedosa, Manitoba.
5.
Walter Weir sought the Progressive Conservative nomination for the rural riding of Minnedosa in the buildup to the 1958 provincial election, but lost to Sid Paler.
6.
Walter Weir later defeated Paler for the party's nomination in the buildup to the 1959 provincial election; there was no lasting animosity between the candidates, and Paler served as Weir's campaign manager in the election that followed.
7.
Walter Weir was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in Dufferin Roblin's landslide victory of 1959, defeating Liberal-Progressive incumbent Charles Shuttleworth in Minnedosa.
8.
Walter Weir was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs on October 25,1961, holding the portfolio until February 27,1963.
9.
Walter Weir was Minister of Public Works from November 5,1962 to July 22,1967 and Minister of Highways from July 1,1967 to November 27,1967.
10.
Walter Weir was re-elected without difficulty in 1962, and again by a credible margin in the provincial election of 1966.
11.
When Roblin moved to federal politics in 1967, Walter Weir defeated Sterling Lyon and two other candidates to become the party's new leader.
12.
Walter Weir was sworn in as Premier on November 27,1967.
13.
Walter Weir represented a "rural populist" wing within the Manitoba Tories, and spoke for the party's more conservative members who had been marginalized during Red Tory Roblin's time as leader.
14.
Walter Weir's government kept spending increases to a minimum and introduced a balanced budget without tax increases in 1968.
15.
Walter Weir was skeptical toward the concept of Medicare, and his government did not sign on to the program until 1969, one year after its introduction.
16.
Walter Weir opposed the introduction of official bilingualism and attained national notoriety for his conflict with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau over that issue.
17.
Walter Weir called for all provinces to have an equal number of senators and for some Senate representatives to be appointed on the recommendation of provincial governments.
18.
Walter Weir recommended for the Senate to be given more powers, including the authority to ratify international treaties.
19.
Walter Weir called four by-elections in early 1969, largely to test his government's popularity on the bilingualism issue.
20.
Walter Weir called a general election for June 25,1969, even though only three years had passed since the previous election.
21.
Walter Weir initially flirted with supporting a coalition with the Manitoba Liberals in which former Liberal leader Gildas Molgat, despite his party finishing in third place, would have become Premier.
22.
Walter Weir stepped down as PC leader in February 1971, and retired as an MLA in September of the same year.