Earl Collins

Earl Thompson Collins (September 3, 1895

The son of Christopher Fowler Collins and Susanna Thompson, Collins was educated in Miami, Winnipeg and Toronto. He worked as a farmer, was active in freemasonry, and was the secretary-treasurer of the Rosebank Cooperative, selling oil and supplies. In 1928, Collins married Hazel Viola Campbell.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in a by-election held on June 22, 1943, in the constituency of Dufferin. At the time of this by-election, Manitoba was governed by a coalition government of Liberal-Progressives, Conservatives and Social Crediters. Collins, a Conservative, was elected by acclamation and sat as a government backbencher.

He was re-elected in the 1945 provincial election as an independent candidate supporting the coalition. He served as a government backbencher for another four years, and did not seek re-election in 1949.

Collins ran for the legislature again in the 1953 provincial election as a Progressive Conservative, and finished third against Liberal-Progressive candidate Walter McDonald. The coalition had ceased to exist by this time.