Robert Gordon Robertson

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| name = (Robert) Gordon Robertson

| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|FRSC|size=100%}}

| image =

| caption =

| order = Commissioner of the Northwest Territories

| term_start = November 15, 1953

| term_end = July 12, 1963

| predecessor = Hugh Andrew Young

| successor = Bent Gestur Sivertz

| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|5|19}}

| birth_place =Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|1|15|1917|5|19}}

| death_place = Ottawa, Ontario

| party =

| spouse =

}}

(Robert) Gordon Robertson, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|FRSC}} (May 19, 1917 – January 15, 2013) was the commissioner of the Northwest Territories from November 15, 1953 to July 12, 1963 who, having been sworn in at the age of 36, remains the youngest person to ever hold the office.{{cite web

|work=University Archives and Special Collections

| title = Honorary Degrees, Campus History

| publisher = University of Saskatchewan

| date = September 29, 1959

| url = http://library.usask.ca/archives/campus-history/honorary-degrees.php?id=120&view=detail&keyword=&campuses=

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}} He went on to become Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, the top position in the Canadian public service.

Biography

Born in Davidson, Saskatchewan, Robertson was educated at University of Saskatchewan, Exeter College, Oxford (where he was a Rhodes Scholar) and University of Toronto.{{cite web

| last = Bothwell

| first = Robert

| authorlink =

| title =Robert Gordon Robertson, CC, Public servant (born 19 May 1917 in Davidson, SK; died 15 January 2013 in Ottawa On)

| publisher = The Canadian Encyclopedia

| date = September 17, 2014

| url = http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robertson-robert-gordon/

| format =

| doi =

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}} He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1941. From 1945 to 1948 he worked in the Prime Minister's Office of William Lyon Mackenzie King, and from 1948 to 1953 he was in the Privy Council Office under Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. In 1953 he was appointed Deputy Minister of the newly formed Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. By virtue of that position he was also Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. He remained in this combination of positions until 1963, when incoming Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed him Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, the top position in the Canadian public service. He held this position under Pearson and then under Pierre Trudeau until 1975. In that year, Trudeau appointed him Secretary to the Cabinet for Federal-Provincial Relations, to support Trudeau in his constitutional reform agenda. He remained in that position for most of the government of Joe Clark, retiring in December 1979.{{cite web

| title = Robert Gordon Robertson

| work = Clerk of the Privy Council

| date = June 1, 2012

| publisher=Government of Canada

| url =http://www.clerk.gc.ca/eng/bio.asp?id=19

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}}

Awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Saskatchewan for outstanding service with the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources and Commissioner of the Northwest Territories Council in 1959. In 1970, he won the Vanier Medal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

Robertson was a recipient of the Public Service Outstanding Achievement Award in 1972; in 1976 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Privy Council in 1982.{{cite web

| title =The Honorable Robert Gordon Robertson P.C., C.C., M.A., DU., F.R.S.C.

| publisher = The Globe and Mail

| date = January 21, 2013

| url = http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20130121.93311936/BDAStory/BDA/deaths

| format =

| doi =

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}}

Robertson served as chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa from 1980 to 1990.{{cite web

| last =

| first =

| authorlink =

| title = Carleton Mourns the Passing of Former Chancellor Gordon Robertson

| work = Carleton Newsroom

| date = January 17, 2013

| publisher=Carleton University

| url = http://newsroom.carleton.ca/2013/01/17/carleton-mourns-the-passing-of-former-chancellor-gordon-robertson/

| format =

| doi =

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}}

In 2000, Robertson published Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant, which recounted his experiences as a senior civil servant under five Canadian Prime Ministers.{{Citation

| last =Robertson

| first =Gordon

| title = Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant: Mackenzie King to Pierre Trudeau

| place =Toronto, Ontario

| publisher =University of Toronto Press

| year =2000

| edition = illustrated, reprint

| pages =408

| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=zpWBvqjHtzIC&q=Memoirs+of+a+Very+Civil+Servant&pg=PP4

| isbn = 9780802044457

}}

In 2022, in association with the Inuit Advisory Council and Inuit in the region and in the North, Carleton University re-named Robertson Hall (named after Robertson) to Pigiarvik (ᐱᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃ), which is an Inuit name that translates to “a place to begin” or “the starting place."

{{cite web | url=https://carleton.ca/provost/new-names-new-times/pigiarvik/#:~:text=the%20Kin%C3%A0m%C3%A0gawin%20Report.-,Following%20a%20thorough%20engagement%20process%20with%20the%20Inuit%20Advisory%20Council,or%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20starting%20place%22. | title=Pigiarvik (ᐱᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃ) – formerly Robertson Hall }}

Personal life

Robertson was born to John Gordon Robertson and Lydia A. Paulson. A prominent leader in Saskatchewan John Gordon Robertson served as Live Stock Commissioner in the province of Saskatchewan following his service in the Great War. Additionally John Robertson held many administrative offices in the province and served on several boards and organisations.{{cite book

| last = Hawkes

| first = John

| authorlink =

| title = The Story of Saskatchewan and its People

| chapter=Robertson, John Gordon

| work =Julia Adamson, re-published Saskatchewan Gen Web

|edition=illustrated

|volume=III

|place= Regina, Saskatchewan

| date = 25 September 2014

| orig-date = 1924

| publisher=The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company

| chapter-url =http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/SaskatchewanAndItsPeople/VolumeIII/RobertsonJohnGordon.html

| doi =

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}} Robert Gordon Robertson had one brother, former chairman of the CDIC, Ronald Neil Robertson, and one sister, Jessie Lucille Robertson.

The Honourable Robert Gordon Robertson died on January 15, 2013.{{cite web

| title =Robert Gordon Robertson,Obit

| work = Newstalk Radio

| publisher = CBC Radio Canada

| date = September 17, 2014

| url = http://www.cbc.ca/player/AudioMobile/As%2BIt%2BHappens/ID/2326916885/

| format = audio broadcast

| doi =

| accessdate = September 25, 2014}}

{{cite web

| title =Former Privy Council Clerk Gordon Robertson Dies

| date = January 16, 2013