Roger Cyril Simmons, (born June 3, 1939) is a Canadian public policy consultant and former politician and diplomat. Simmons is originally from

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, where he was a politician for many years. He was later based at the

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

office of the Gowlings law firm. The son of Willis Simmons and Ida Williams, he was born in

Lewisporte Lewisporte is a town in central Newfoundland, Canada, with a population of 3,288. It is situated in Burnt Bay which opens on to the Bay of Exploits. Lewisporte has a deep water port and related facilities that serve many communities in the re ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. After studying at the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

College for Officers,

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

, and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, Simmons became a teacher in Newfoundland's Salvation Army school system. (At the time, the Salvation Army, along with other denominations, ran its own publicly funded schools.) He subsequently moved to Springdale to become principal of Grant Collegiate and superintendent of the Green Bay Integrated School Board. Simmons married Miriam Jean Torgerson. He became president of the Newfoundland Teachers' Association in 1968 but resigned to run unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Newfoundland Liberal party. In 1973, he was elected Liberal member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

(MHA) for Hermitage. He was re-elected in 1975 as MHA for Burgeo-Bay D'Espoir. In 1979, he resigned his provincial seat and was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the that year's federal election as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Burin—St. George's. Following the 1980 election, Simmons became parliamentary secretary to the

minister of the environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

, and then parliamentary secretary to the

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for science and technology. On August 12, 1983, he was named to the Cabinet of

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

as minister of state for mines. He resigned eleven days later after learning that he was being investigated by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

on an allegation that he failed to pay

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

on some of his earnings. Simmons thereby set the record for the shortest federal Cabinet career in Canadian history. Simmons lost his seat in the 1984 election. In 1985, Simmons returned to the Newfoundland House of Assembly as the Liberal MHA for Fortune-Hermitage and briefly served as interim

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. Simmons returned to the federal House of Commons in the 1988 federal election. He represented Canada at the Rio Summit in 1992. Simmons was re-elected in the 1993 election, and defeated in the 1997 election by Progressive Conservative candidate Bill Matthews. Simmons was appointed

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

for Canada in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in 1998 and served in that position for five years before moving to Vancouver and joining Gowlings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Roger 1939 births Living people People from Lewisporte Consuls for Canada Canadian Salvationists Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada 20th-century members of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada