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Bruce, Herbert Alexander
Herbert Alexander Bruce, surgeon, military officer, politician, lieutenant-governor of Ontario (b at Blackstock, Ont 28 Sept 1868; d at Toronto 23 June 1963). Founder of Toronto's Wellesley Hospital (1911), he was appointed special inspector-general of the Canadian Army Medical Corps overseas by Sir Sam HUGHES in 1916.
His "Report on the Canadian Army Medical Service" recommended a complete reorganization, including segregation of Canadian wounded in Canadian facilities. Although many of his ideas were subsequently implemented, Bruce and his report were disowned by the government. He later published his charges in Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Corps (1919).
As lieutenant-governor of Ontario 1932-37, he struggled to maintain his office against Mitch HEPBURN, the Liberal premier elected on a promise to reduce government expenditure. As a Conservative MP, 1940-46, Bruce was an outspoken proponent of wartime CONSCRIPTION. His lively memoirs, Varied Operations (1958), recount his medical, military and political careers.
