Stanley Knowles

Stanley Howard Knowles was born in California to Canadian parents and moved to Manitoba in 1924, working as a typesetter and ordained United Church minister during the Great Depression. Succeeding J.S. Woodsworth as Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North Centre in 1942, he served for nearly four decades as a leading CCF and NDP statesman.

Knowles was universally regarded as the premier expert on Canadian parliamentary procedure. He waged tireless, legendary legislative campaigns that forced successive governments to repeatedly increase and index federal Old Age Security pensions, the Canada Pension Plan, and veterans' benefits. In 1984, in an unprecedented tribute, the House of Commons appointed him an honorary Table Officer for life.