Economist.
Born near Wolseley, Saskatchewan on 5 May 1917, he spent his first 19 years on the farm. He graduated from the Universities of Saskatchewan and Minnesota, and Clark University, then taught economics at the University of Manitoba from 1949 to 1982, serving as Head of the Department of Economics from 1963 to 1972.
Acknowledged as one of Canada’s most thoughtful and respected economists, he served as Director of Research for the Royal Commission on Flood Cost-Benefit (1957-1959) which contributed to the construction of the Winnipeg floodway. He was President of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (1958-1959), Senior United Nations Advisor on National Income to the Government of the Philippines (1959-1960), and President of the Canadian Economics Association (1972-1973). He was sole commissioner on the Royal Commission on Farm Machinery (1966), and Commissioner on Welfare for the Government of Manitoba (1972). He was a member of the National Commission on Inflation (1979), and the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (1982 to 1985).
He married Barbara Anne “Babs” Patchet (1923-2017) at Ottawa, Ontario and they had four sons, including David Stuart Barber.
He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada (1972) and he received an honorary degree from the University of Guelph (1988). He was appointed to the Order of Canada (1987) and the Order of Manitoba (2000).
He died at Oak Bay, British Columbia on 27 February 2004.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 1 March 2004.
Obituary [Barbara A. Barber], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 May 2017.
Official Register of the Order of Manitoba.
We thank Paul Barber for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 15 August 2021
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