Sir Douglas Colin Cameron (June 8, 1854 – November 27, 1921) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. He served in the

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from 1902 to 1905, and was the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba from 1911 to 1916. Cameron was born in

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(now

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), and was educated at Vankleek Hill High School. He did not attend college. Cameron moved to Manitoba in 1878, and worked as a contractor at Brandon. Cameron then moved to Rat Portage (now

Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The hi ...

), which was claimed by both Manitoba and Ontario at the time. He oversaw developments in the lumbering and mining trades, opened a saw mill, and was one of the founders of the

Maple Leaf Flour Mills ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

. In later years, he would become President of

Rat Portage Lumber Company The Beaver Mills Lumber Company was a sawmill established in 1895 on the Rainy River in Northwestern Ontario, near the international border with Baudette, Minnesota. In 1910, as the Rat Portage Lumber Company, it was destroyed in the Baudette F ...

. Cameron entered politics in 1901, having been elected as a councillor in Rat Portage. He would later serve as the city's mayor. In 1902, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal for the riding of Fort William and Lake of the Woods, defeating

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Thomas Smellie, 1483 votes to 1121. Cameron sat as a backbench supporter of Premier George Ross for the next three years. The Liberals lost the election of 1905, and Cameron lost his own riding to Smellie, 1536 votes to 1228. Shortly thereafter, he moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

to better oversee his business ventures. Cameron stood as a Liberal candidate for

in the 1908 federal election, but lost to

Alexander Haggart by 8747 votes to 6729.

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Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

appointed Cameron Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba on August 1, 1911. The position was largely ceremonial by this time, and Cameron had little involvement in the day-to-day affairs of the province's government. In 1915, however, Cameron used his constitutional authority to call a Royal Commission of Enquiry into an ongoing scandal involving the construction costs of the province's new legislative buildings. The Commission upheld charges against

Rodmond Roblin Sir Rodmond Palen Roblin (February 15, 1853 – February 16, 1937) was a businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada. Early life and career Roblin was born in Sophiasburgh, in Prince Edward County, Canada West (later Ontario). The Robli ...

's government by the opposition Liberals, and Roblin was forced to resign. Cameron was made a

Knight Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mi ...

of the

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in the 1914

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. Cameron's term in office ended in 1916. He died in 1921.

References

Past Lieutenant Governors - Government of Manitoba
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Douglas 1854 births 1921 deaths Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Candidates in the 1908 Canadian federal election Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Lieutenant Governors of Manitoba Mayors of Kenora Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Hawkesbury, Ontario