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John Parmenter Robarts
The Hon. John Parmenter Robarts
17th Premier of Ontario
In office November 08, 1961 – March 01, 1971
Preceded by	Leslie Frost
Succeeded by	Bill Davis
Born	January 11, 1917 Banff, Alberta
Died	October 18, 1982 (aged 65) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Ontario PC Party
Spouse	Norah McCormick Katherine Sickafuse
Religion	Anglican

John Parmenter Robarts, PC , CC , QC , LL.D (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and statesman, and Premier of Ontario.

Robarts was born in Banff, Alberta. As a young man, he moved to London, Ontario with his family, where he studied at Central Collegiate (today, London Central Secondary School) and the University of Western Ontario. While attending the University of Western Ontario he joined The Delta Upsilon Fraternity.

He enrolled at Osgoode Hall Law School to study law, but his education was interrupted by service with the Royal Canadian Navy during the World War II. He served as an officer on the HMCS Uganda. After the war, he returned to university, graduating in 1948.

He practised law in London, Ontario, and was elected a city alderman. In 1951, he was elected as an Ontario Progressive Conservative Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He entered the cabinet of Leslie Frost in 1958 as minister without portfolio and was promoted to Minister of Education in 1959.

In 1961, he became the 17th premier of Ontario, and served in that capacity until 1971. A popular and well-respected leader, Robarts epitomized power and dignity. He was an advocate of individual freedoms and promoted the rights of the provinces against the centralizing initiatives of the federal government while also promoting national unity against Quebec separatism and hosted the 1967 "Confederation of Tomorrow" conference in Toronto in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve an agreement for a new Constitution of Canada.

He initially opposed Canadian Medicare when it was proposed, but later endorsed it fully. As a civil libertarian, and a strong believer in the promotion of both official languages, he opened the door to French education in Ontario schools. In 1972 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Remembered for his steps to promote and improve education, he was responsible for the construction of York University, the Ontario Science Centre, the expansion of numerous teacher colleges, and launching the Ontario Scholarship fund.

After retiring from office, John Robarts co-chaired the Task Force on Canadian Unity with Jean-Luc Pépin before joining the boards of directors of several major corporations.

Later in his life, he suffered a series of debilitating strokes, and committed suicide with a shotgun on October 18, 1982.

The John P. Robarts Research Institute (renamed The Robarts Research Institute in 2005) at the University of Western Ontario was officially opened in 1986. He served as Chancellor of UWO from 1971 to 1976. Also in London is the Robarts School for the Deaf (http://www.robartsschool.ca/), and the John P. Robarts elementary school. The 14-storey John P. Robarts library at the University of Toronto is also named in his honour.

Steve Paikin wrote a biography, Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts (Viking, 2005).

• Order of Canada Citation

Political offices
Preceded by Leslie Frost	Premier of Ontario 1961–1971	Succeeded by Bill Davis
	Leader of the Ontario PC Party 1961–1971
Academic Offices
Preceded by Albert W. Trueman	Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario 1971–1976	Succeeded by J. Allyn Taylor
Preceded by Walter L. Gordon	Chancellor of York University 1977–1982	Succeeded by John S. Proctor

Premiers of Ontario
Macdonald | Blake | Mowat | Hardy | Ross | Whitney | Hearst | Drury | Ferguson | Henry | Hepburn | Conant | Nixon | Drew | Kennedy | Frost | Robarts | Davis | Miller | Peterson | Rae | Harris | Eves | McGuinty

	Leaders of the Ontario PC Party
Macdonald | Cameron | Meredith | Marter | Whitney | Hearst | Ferguson | Henry | Rowe | Drew | Kennedy | Frost | Robarts | Davis | Miller | Grossman | Brandt | Harris | Eves | Tory