Kelso Roberts | |
---|---|
Ontario MPP | |
In office 1951–1967 |
|
Preceded by | Charles Edward Rea |
Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
In office 1943–1948 |
|
Preceded by | Frederick Fraser Hunter |
Succeeded by | Charles Edward Rea |
Constituency | St. Patrick |
Personal details | |
Born |
Hastings, Ontario |
September 11, 1898
Died | October 8, 1970 Toronto, Ontario |
(aged 72)
Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Lillian Brathwaite |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | Osgoode Law School |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Archibald Kelso Roberts (September 11, 1898 – October 8, 1970) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1943 to 1948 and again from 1951 to 1967. Both times he represented the downtown Toronto riding of St. Patrick. He served as a senior cabinet minister in the governments of Leslie Frost and John Robarts.
Roberts was born in Belleville in 1898. Roberts was married to Lillian Brathwaite and had three sons: Alexander (Alec) Roberts, Frank Kelso Roberts, (May 14, 1939 – July 1, 2003) who became a Judge in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and a part-time Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories., and Greer Roberts.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the Toronto riding of St. Patrick in the 1943 Ontario election that brought the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party to power under George Drew.
Though a backbencher, he ran to succeed Drew in the 1949 provincial PC leadership convention, coming in third place.
In 1955, Drew's successor as Premier of Ontario, Leslie Frost, elevated Roberts to cabinet as Attorney-General. Early in his term, Roberts supported strengthening the Fair Accommodation Practices Act in order to require restaurants and bars to serve all customers equally, regardless of race or ethnicity. [2]