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Edward Robert McGill
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Pilot, MLA (1969-1973), MLA (1973-1977), MLA (1977-1981).
Born at Vancouver, British Columbia on 21 September 1912, he spent most of his young life in Brandon. He attended Park School and Brandon Collegiate, and he spent one year at Brandon College before going to Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, to receive a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
In 1933 he was employed by Inco Steel, as a smelter and later as an accountant. He worked there until 1939, when he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force as a pilot. He worked as a flight instructor for two years before marrying Marguerite Eve Shaw in 1942, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1943 he was posted overseas with 418 City of Edmonton Squadron. He flew the De Havilland “Mosquito,” also known as the “Wooden Wonder.” While on tour he performed 38 operational trips. After the Second World War, he returned to Brandon to manage No. 12 Flying School at Brandon Airport, as a civilian school. He managed the airport for 25 years. In 1971 the Brandon airport was renamed McGill Field in his honour.
In 1969 he was elected the MLA for the Brandon West constituency, being re-elected at general elections in 1973 and 1977. He served as Minister of Consumer, Corporate and Internal Service (1977-1978), and Minister Without Portfolio (1979-1981). He did not seek re-election in 1981. In 1977, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.
He died at Brandon on 3 December 1996.
Voices of Yesteryear [Audiocassette], 1982. Westman Oral History Collection by the Westman Oral History Association (Effie McPhail, Chair). S. J. McKee Archives.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 December 1996, page 18.
Members of the Legislative Assembly (deceased), Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
This page was prepared by Angela Graham and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 19 November 2023
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