Don Robinson (politician)

Donald Frederick Robinson (1919 – January 9, 1997) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia from 1955 to 1966, representing the constituency of Lillooet as part of the Social Credit (Socred) caucus.^[3]

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Robinson attended school in Swalwell before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he married his wife Anne; they had four children together.^[1] The family moved to British Columbia, where Robinson became a locomotive engineer and mechanic for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway.^[1][4]: 63 He contested the 1952 provincial election as a Social Credit candidate in the riding of Lillooet, but was defeated.^{[5]: 225 [6]}

Liberal Gordon Gibson, Sr. was elected Lillooet MLA in 1953, then resigned in 1955 to trigger a by-election. He had alleged in the legislature that there had been fraudulent activities surrounding the award of forest management licences in the province (see Robert Sommers), and sought vindication from the electorate.^[4]: 61 Robinson secured the Socred nomination,^[2] then defeated Gibson in the September 1955 by-election to become MLA for Lillooet.^{[4]: 64–65 [5]: 263} He was re-elected in 1956, 1960 and 1963,^{[5]: 268, 279, 288 [6]} but did not run again in the 1966 election, which saw the Lillooet riding dissolved and incorporated into the new district of Yale-Lillooet.

In his later years he returned to Calgary, where he died in 1997 at age 77.^[1]