Cornelius Rink (September 16, 1871 – September 13, 1949) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

-born businessman and political figure in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. He served as mayor of Regina from 1934 to 1935. He was born in

Hedel Hedel () is a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Maasdriel, and lies about 7 km northwest of 's-Hertogenbosch. Hedel was a separate municipality until 1999, when it was merged with Maasdriel. In Wor ...

and went to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1891 to work as a clerk for the Netherlands-South African Railway Company. He fought against the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. In 1902, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, immigrating to Regina in 1907, where he worked in the real estate business. In 1909, Rink married Frances Zerr. He served on Regina city council from 1911 to 1914. From 1920 to 1923, Rink and his family lived in

Vancouver 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 ...

, returning to Regina in the latter year. He worked for a time as manager at Western Financial Agents and Regina Distributors Ltd. before being elected again to city council in 1931. Rink, a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

, was defeated by the business-oriented candidate James McAra in 1932 but defeated McAra to become mayor in 1934. In 1935, he was awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal. Rink ran unsuccessfully as a

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

candidate in a provincial by-election held in 1938. He died in Regina on September 13, 1949.

References

Mayors of Regina, Saskatchewan 1871 births 1949 deaths Dutch emigrants Immigrants to the South African Republic South African emigrants to the United States American emigrants to Canada 20th-century mayors of places in Saskatchewan {{Saskatchewan-mayor-stub