Francis Laurence Jobin Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Francis Laurence Jobin
Order:18th
Office:Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
Term Start:March 15, 1976
Term End:October 23, 1981
Predecessor:William John McKeag
Successor:Pearl McGonigal
Governor General:Jules Léger
Edward Schreyer
Premier:Edward Schreyer
Sterling Lyon
Office2:Manitoba Minister of Industry and Commerce
Term Start2:July 6, 1956
Term End2:June 30, 1958
Premier2:Douglas Lloyd Campbell
Predecessor2:Ronald Turner
Successor2:Gurney Evans
Office3:Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Flin Flon
The Pas 1949–1958
Term Start3:June 16, 1958
Term End3:May 14, 1959
Predecessor3:new constituency
Successor3:Charles Witney
Term Start4:November 10, 1949
Term End4:June 16, 1958
Predecessor4:Beresford Richards
Successor4:John Carroll
Birth Date:14 August 1914
Birth Place:Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Death Place:Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Party:Liberal
Alma Mater:University of Manitoba
Occupation:Labourer, miner, surveyor

Francis Laurence Jobin (August 14, 1914  - August 25, 1995) was a politician and the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, Canada.[1]

Jobin was born in Winnipeg, and was educated at the University of Manitoba. He moved to Flin Flon, in the northern part of the province, in 1935. He worked for Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting as a labourer, miner and surveyor, later working in the company's purchasing department.[1]

Jobin was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 1949 provincial election, as a Liberal candidate supporting the government of Premier Douglas Campbell. Running in The Pas, he easily defeated independent incumbent Beresford Richards, who opposed the governing Liberal-Conservative coalition.[2]

Jobin was re-elected in the 1953 election,[2] easily defeating opponents from the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and Social Credit. On July 6, 1956, he was sworn in as Railway Commissioner and Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Campbell government.[2] Provincial CCF leader Lloyd Stinson later referred to Jobin as Campbell's only "labour-oriented" minister.

Campbell's Liberals were defeated by Dufferin Roblin's Progressive Conservatives in the 1958 election, but Jobin was able to retain the redistributed riding of Flin Flon. He was defeated by Progressive Conservative Charles Witney in the following year's election, however, as Roblin's Tories won a majority government.[2]

When Campbell resigned as Manitoba Liberal Party leader in 1961, Jobin was one of four candidates who sought to replace him. He was accused by some of representing "radical" elements within the party, though he denied this, using his friendship with the arch-conservative Campbell as evidence. Jobin was a somewhat marginal candidate, however, and received only 79 votes in the leadership convention, compared to 475 for the winner, Gildas Molgat.

Jobin ran as a Liberal candidate in the sprawling northern riding of Churchill in the federal election of 1962,[1] but finished a distant second against Progressive Conservative candidate Robert Simpson. In early 1963, he lost a deferred provincial election in Churchill to Progressive Conservative Gordon Beard,[2] albeit by a relatively close margin. Jobin again lost to Simpson in the federal election of 1965.[3]

Jobin was elected to the Flin Flon Municipal Council in 1966.[1] He made another bid for the provincial legislature in the 1969 election, this time finishing third against Witney and the successful New Democratic candidate, Thomas Barrow. Jobin received a Centennial Medal from the Manitoba Historical Society in 1970, and continued his work on the municipal council. In October 1974, he was elected mayor of Flin Flon.[1]

On March 15, 1976, Jobin was sworn in as the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. He served in this position until October 23, 1981. He died in Winnipeg on August 25, 1995.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Honourable Francis Laurence Jobin . Past Lieutenant Governors . Government of Manitoba . 2013-07-07.
  2. Web site: MLA Biographies - Deceased . Legislative Assembly of Manitoba . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140330185239/http://www.gov.mb.ca/hansard/members/mla_bio_deceased.html#J0 . 2014-03-30 .
  3. Web site: Churchill, Manitoba (1933 -) . History of Federal Ridings since 1867 . Library of Parliament . 2013-07-07.