| Honorific prefix | The Honourable |
|---|---|
| Office | Minister of Trade and Commerce |
| Prime minister | Lester B. Pearson |
| Term start | January 4, 1966 |
| Term end | March 29, 1968 |
| Predecessor | Mitchell Sharp |
| Successor | Jean-Luc Pepin (acting) |
| Office 1 | Minister of Public Works |
| Prime minister 1 | Louis St. Laurent |
| Term start 1 | September 7, 1953 |
| Term end 1 | June 20, 1957 |
| Predecessor 1 | Walter Harris (acting) |
| Successor 1 | Howard Charles Green |
| Office 2 | Minister of Resources and Development |
| Prime minister 2 | Louis St. Laurent |
| Term start 2 | January 18, 1950 |
| Term end 2 | September 16, 1953 |
| Predecessor 2 | Office established |
| Successor 2 | Jean Lesage |
| Office 3 | Minister of Reconstruction and Supply |
| Prime minister 3 | Louis St. Laurent |
| Term start 3 | November 15, 1948 |
| Term end 3 | January 17, 1950 |
| Predecessor 3 | C. D. Howe |
| Successor 3 | Office abolished |
| Riding 4 | York West |
| Parliament 4 | Canadian |
| Term start 4 | November 8, 1965 |
| Term end 4 | June 24, 1968 |
| Predecessor 4 | Red Kelly |
| Successor 4 | Philip Givens |
| Riding 5 | Queens--Lunenburg (Lunenburg; 1949–1953) (Queens--Lunenburg; 1945–1949) |
| Parliament 5 | Canadian |
| Term start 5 | June 11, 1945 |
| Term end 5 | June 10, 1957 |
| Predecessor 5 | John James Kinley |
| Successor 5 | Lloyd Crouse |
| Birth name | Robert Henry Winters |
| Birth date | August 18, 1910 |
| Birth place | Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Death date | October 10, 1969 (aged 59) |
| Death place | Monterey, California, U.S. |
| Party | Liberal |
| Profession | Engineer |
| Spouse | Eleanor McRobie (m. 1936) |
| Education | |
| Allegiance | Canada |
| Branch | Canadian Army |
| Service years | 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-colonel |
| Unit | Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers |
| Battles | World War II |
Robert Henry Winters (August 18, 1910 – October 10, 1969) was a Canadian politician and businessman.
Life and career
Born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the son of a fishing captain, Winters went to Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete his degree in electrical engineering. He worked for Northern Electric before joining the army in World War II, eventually becoming a lieutenant-colonel. He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1945 general election as a Liberal for the riding of Queens—Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. Winters was appointed to Cabinet in 1948, and served as minister of public works, among other portfolios, under Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent.
Defeated along with the St. Laurent government in the 1957 election, Winters entered the corporate world, becoming a chief executive officer at a series of companies. He was hired as a special advisor to the Newfoundland government to help negotiate the Churchill Falls deal, for which he became highly popular in that province.
He was persuaded to return to politics by Lester Pearson, and won the Toronto seat of York West in the 1965 election, becoming minister of trade and commerce in Pearson's government. He was seen as close to the business community and far more fiscally conservative than Walter L. Gordon. He originally announced that he would not seek to replace the retiring Pearson, but changed his mind and ran to succeed Pearson at the 1968 Liberal leadership convention, coming in second to Pierre Trudeau.
Winters then left politics, to become president and director of Brazilian Light and Power and a vice president of CIBC. Also, he was very involved in the new York University and served as the first chair of its board of governors.
Death
In 1969, while in California, he suffered a severe heart attack during a game of tennis. He died at age 59 in an ambulance on his way to a hospital.
Winters College at York University is named in his honour.