Robert Smith (Canadian judge)

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Robert Smith

| honorific-suffix =

| image = File:Colonel R. Smith.jpg

| constituency_MP = Stormont

| parliament = Canadian

| predecessor = Robert Abercrombie Pringle

| successor = Duncan Orestes Alguire

| term_start = 1908

| term_end = 1911

| office2 = Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada

| predecessor2 = None (new position)

| successor2 = Henry Hague Davis

| term_start2 = 1927

| term_end2 = 1933

| nominator2 = William Lyon Mackenzie King

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1858|12|7}}

| birth_place = Ramsay Township, Canada West

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1942|3|18|1858|12|7}}

| death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

| nationality = Canadian

| spouse =

| party = Liberal

| relations =

| children = Arnold Neilson Smith

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| profession =

| religion =

| allegiance = Canadian Militia

| battles =

| serviceyears = 1897 - 1910

| rank = Captain
Lieutenant Colonel

| unit = 59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment (1897-1908)

| commands = 59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment (1908-1910)

| honorific_prefix = The Honourable

}}

Robert Smith (7 December 1858 – 18 March 1942) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Born in Lanark County, Canada West (now Ontario), the son of William Smith and Jean Neilson, he was educated in Almonte and at Osgoode Hall. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1885. He then practiced law in Cornwall, Ontario.

In 1888, Smith married Florence Parker Pettit.{{cite book |title=The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967 |last=Johnson |first=J.K. |year=1968 |publisher=Public Archives of Canada}}

Smith joined the 59th Stormont and Glengarry Regiment on May 28, 1897 and commanded the regiment as Lieutenant Colonel from 1908 to April 11, 1910.

In 1904, he ran for the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal in the riding of Stormont, Ontario. He lost but won in 1908. He did not run for re-election.{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=14298|2=Robert Smith|nolist=yes}}

In 1908, Smith was named King's Counsel. Smith was a director and secretary-treasurer for the Montreal and Cornwall Navigation Company. He served as lieutenant-colonel in the militia.

In 1922, he was appointed to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Ontario and then to the Appellate Division. In 1926, he sat on the Supreme Court as an ad hoc judge and was appointed as a judge in 1927. He retired in 1933.{{fact|date=December 2021}}

For reasons unknown, the federal government took over a year to appoint a replacement for Justice Smith, eventually appointing Henry Hague Davis in 1935.{{Cite book|author=James G. Snell|author2=Frederick Vaughan|title=The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1985|isbn=0802034179|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supremecourtofca0000snel}}, p. 148.

Smith died in Ottawa at the age of 83.