Article

Herbert James Symington

Published Online June 4, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Herbert James Symington, lawyer, executive (b at Sarnia, Ont 22 Nov 1881; d at Montréal 28 Sept 1965). Symington, admitted to the Manitoba Bar in 1905, became a prominent corporation lawyer and a notable figure in Winnipeg public affairs.

Herbert James Symington

Herbert James Symington, lawyer, executive (b at Sarnia, Ont 22 Nov 1881; d at Montréal 28 Sept 1965). Symington, admitted to the Manitoba Bar in 1905, became a prominent corporation lawyer and a notable figure in Winnipeg public affairs. A Liberal, he was a member of the informal "Sanhedrin" around J.W. DAFOE and T.A. CRERAR, and he was put on the board of the CNR in 1936. During WWII he controlled the allocation of supplies of electrical power, and from 1941 to 1947 he was president of TRANS-CANADA AIRLINES. He helped found the International Civil Aviation Organization and later became chairman of the board of Price Brothers.