Orton Grain

Orton Irwin Grain (August 9, 1863 Grain was one of the charter holders of the Winnipeg and Northern Railway, and served as mayor of Selkirk in 1896. In religion, he was a member of the Church of England. He practised medicine in Banff, Alberta, Manitou, Manitoba, Winnipeg and Selkirk. In 1890, Grain married Annie Cull.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1899 provincial election, winning the constituency of Kildonan and St. Andrews as a Liberal-Conservative. He supported the Conservative administration of Hugh John Macdonald and Rodmond Roblin, and sat as a government backbencher in the legislature which followed. Running as a Conservative, he lost to Liberal candidate M.J. O'Donohue

In late 1913, he was named medical inspector for the western provinces for the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs, charged with dealing with the problem of tuberculosis on first nations reserves and, at the same time, with reducing expenses incurred by the department. Grain made a number of suggestions for treating tuberculosis on reserves, but these were rejected for economic reasons. His position in the department was abolished in 1918.

In 1914, Grain moved to Winnipeg. He died at home there in 1930.