Stanley Charles Waters

Waters, Stanley Charles

Stanley Charles Waters, soldier, businessman, senator (b at Winnipeg 14 June 1920; d at Calgary 25 Sept 1991). Waters enlisted in the Canadian army in 1941 and chose to remain in the military after the war. He rose steadily through the ranks and ended his career as a Lt-Gen and commander of Canadian Forces Mobile Command (1973-75). In 1975 he joined the giant Mannix organization at Calgary, becoming president of Loram Group, a subsidiary, and holding a variety of executive positions until his retirement in 1989. He was also a co-founder of the Bowfort Group of companies, which engaged in farming, real estate and investment operations.

A man of strongly conservative political and social opinions, Waters opposed official bilingualism, universal social programs, grants to artists and writers and anything that would increase government spending. He was a founding member of the REFORM PARTY and in 1989 ran and won in an unprecedented provincial election for a vacant Senate seat called by Alberta premier Don Getty in defiance of PM Mulroney's insistence that Senate appointments remain the legal responsibility of the federal government. Mulroney belatedly accepted Waters' appointment in June 1990. Waters brought instant credibility to the Reform Party with his appointment and his strident advocacy of Senate Reform.