William Burns was born in the Canadian province of Ontario but moved to Manitoba, where he would spend the remainder of his life, before he was one year old. He attended elementary school in the city of Portage La Prairie, but then took his career to several different cities across the province where he worked as a school teacher and in the office of the city of Winnipeg’s comptroller prior to opening a hardware business in 1902. He moved the business to Portage La Prairie in 1907 and operated it for over a decade before becoming politically active in 1919 as a member of the city’s council. He became mayor of the town in 1921 and served in that capacity until 1930, when he was elected to the Canadian Parliament. He was defeated in the 1935 federal elections and retired from political life. During his tenure as a Member of Parliament, however, he attended the 1932 Winter Olympics as a member of the delegation that represented Manitoba and won the curling demonstration event. A street in Portage La Prairie (Burns Bay) is named in his honor.
Canada