Donald Laing (May 24, 1883 – 1975) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born farmer 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 ...

. He represented

Kerrobert Kerrobert is a town in west central Saskatchewan. It has a population of 970 (2021). Kerrobert is served by Highway 21, Highway 31, and Highway 51 as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is approximately east of the Saskatchewan/Alberta ...

from 1926 to 1929 and from 1934 to 1938 and Kerrobert-Kindersley from 1938 to 1944 in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

. He was born in

Nairnshire The County of Nairn, or Nairnshire, () is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county was named after Nairn, its only town. The county was used for local government until 1975 when the ...

, the son of Donald Laing and Ann Fraser, and was educated in

Ardersier Ardersier () is a small former fishing village in the Scottish Highlands on the Moray Firth near Fort George, between Inverness and Nairn. Its name may be an anglicisation of the Gaelic "Àird nan Saor", or "Headland of the joiners", one loca ...

. Laing came to Canada in 1906. In 1913, he married Eleanor Brownell. He served as Reeve and was on the council for the rural municipality of Oakdale, also serving as reeve. Laing lived in

Coleville, Saskatchewan Coleville ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Oakdale No. 320 and Census Division No. 13. The village's main economic factors are oil and farming, namesake of the Colevil ...

. He was first elected to the provincial assembly in a 1926 by-election held after John Albert Dowd resigned his seat. He was defeated by

Robert Hanbidge Robert Leith "Dinny" Hanbidge (16 March 1891 – 25 July 1974) was a Canadian lawyer, municipal, provincial and federal politician, and the 12th lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, from 1963 to 1970. Early life Born in Southampton, Onta ...

when he ran for reelection to the assembly in 1929; Laing defeated Hanbridge in the general election that followed in 1934. He was defeated by

John Wellbelove John Wellbelove (September 13. 1878 – November 26, 1973) was an English-born farmer and political figure in Saskatchewan. He represented Kerrobert-Kindersley from 1944 to 1956 in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as a Co-operative ...

when he ran for reelection in 1944.

References

Saskatchewan Liberal Party MLAs 1883 births 1975 deaths British emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian farmers People from Nairnshire 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan {{Liberal-Saskatchewan-MLA-stub