William Collings

William Collings
Ontario MPP
In office 1951–1961
Preceded by	Reid Scott CCF
Succeeded by	Jack Harris PC
Constituency	Beaches
Personal details
Born	July 6, 1899 York County, Ontario, Canada
Died	March 7, 1961 (aged 61) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Religion	Protestant

William Henry Collings (July 6, 1899 – March 7, 1961) was a Canadian politician, who represented Beaches in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1951 to 1961 as a Progressive Conservative member.^[1]

Background

Collings was born in York County, Ontario to Thomas Collings and Elizabeth Ann Mortimore. He was one of the last members of the Orange Lodge to win political office, municipally or provincially. He had two sons and one daughter.

Politics

Municipal

Collings was first elected as an Alderman representing Ward 8 on Toronto City Council in 1948. He was re-elected in 1949 but, in 1950, he was unsuccessful in an effort to secure a position on the Toronto Board of Control.

Provincial

He was elected in the general election in 1951 and was re-elected in the general elections in 1955 and 1959 but died in office halfway through his third term. During his first term in office, he served on variety of Standing Committees and he was elected Chair of two Select Committees - the Select Committee on Election Laws and the Select Committee on the Representation Act. He served as a member of more Standing Committees after the 1955 and 1959 elections, sitting on up to ten committees, simultaneously.

In 1955, Collings was appointed as the Chief Commissioner of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and served in that role until his death. He was credited with many of the steps taken to liberalize the advertising and promotion of alcoholic products in Ontario. He was credited by Premier John Robarts as being one of the principal authors of the legislation which created the City of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953.^[2]

Provincial electoral record

Ontario general election, 1951

	Party	Candidate	Votes[3]	Vote %
	Conservative	William Henry Collings	9,573	49.4
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Reid Scott	6,958	35.9
	Liberal	W. Earl Upper	2,864	14.8
		Total	19,395

Ontario general election, 1955

	Party	Candidate	Votes[4]	Vote %
	Conservative	William Henry Collings	7,835	48.1
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Reid Scott	5,887	36.1
	Liberal	E.R. Hoolans	2,566	15.8
		Total	16,288

Ontario general election, 1959

	Party	Candidate	Votes[5]	Vote %
	Conservative	William Henry Collings	7,310	46.1
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Stanley T. Bullock	4,396	27.7
	Liberal	Ronald Pickering	4,157	26.2
		Total	15,863

References

1. "LCBO Chief for Six Years, William H. Collings Dies". The Globe and Mail. March 8, 1961. p. 1.
2. "Ontario Liquor Commissioner Dies". Ottawa Citizen. March 8, 1961. p. 20.
3. Canadian Press (1951-11-22). "Complete Ontario Vote". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. p. 4. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
4. Canadian Press (1955-06-10). "Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 4. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
5. Canadian Press (1959-06-12). "Complete Results of Ontario Voting by Constituencies". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. p. 26. Retrieved 2012-04-22.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History