Clarence Lyle Barber

Clarence Lyle Barber, OC, OM, FRSC, economist (born 5 May 1917 near Wolseley, SK; died 27 February 2004 in Oak Bay, BC). His experience of prairie farm life during the Great Depression gave him a commitment to improving Canadian economic policy and a concern for the needs of farmers. (See also Economics; Macroeconomics; Agriculture in Canada.)

Education and Career

After study at the University of Saskatchewan, Clark University and the University of Minnesota and two years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Clarence Lyle Barber joined the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in 1945, moving to McMaster University in 1948 and in 1949 to the University of Manitoba, until his retirement in 1984. (See also Statistics Canada.)

Barber wrote many articles and monographs on economic theory and policy in a Canadian context (see Economics; Macroeconomics). He directed the research which led to the Winnipeg floodway, served as UN adviser to the Philippines and, from 1966 to 1970, conducted a one-man Royal Commission on Farm Machinery. (See also Winnipeg; Geography of Manitoba.) He was a member of the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (1982-85).