Lieutenant General the Honourable Stan Waters CD |
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Born | June 14, 1920 |
Died | September 25, 1991 |
Allegiance | Canada |
Service/branch | Canadian Army/Canadian Forces |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands held | Commander, Mobile Command |
Awards | Canadian Forces Decoration |
Lieutenant General Stanley Charles "Stan" Waters CD (June 14, 1920 – September 25, 1991) was Canada's first Senator to be appointed to his Senate seat following a non-binding provincial Senate election.
Born in Winnipeg and educated at Strathcona High School and the University of Alberta, Waters commissioned into the 14th Army Tank Battalion in 1941. He was then posted to the First Special Service Force. In 1943, using scaling ropes, Waters led his unit up the sheer cliffs of Monte la Difensa to attack German defences. In February 1944 he landed at Anzio and, due to allied losses, temporarily took command of a battalion.
After the war, he rose steadily through the ranks, and ended his career as a Lieutenant-General and Commander of the Canadian Forces Mobile Command (1973–75). In 1975, he joined Mannix organization at Calgary, becoming president of Loram Group, a subsidiary of the parent company. He was a co-founder of the Bowfort Group of Companies, which engage in farming, real estate and investment operations throughout Western Canada. He held a variety of executive positions until his retirement from business in 1989.
Stan Waters was also keenly interested in Canadian politics. In 1987, Waters became a founding member of Preston Manning's Reform Party of Canada. While Waters did not choose to participate as a Reform Party candidate in the federal election of 1988, he was seen as one of the party's most popular early spokesmen and policy communicators, speaking at numerous party rallies and events from 1987 to 1991.