William Riggs

Who was William Riggs?

William Charles "Bill" Riggs was a Member of Provincial Parliament in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1943 to 1945. He represented the riding of Windsor—Walkerville for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and was also briefly Mayor of Windsor in 1969.

Riggs was born in 1896 in England, but moved to Belleville, Ontario, where he was educated. He joined the Canadian Field Artillery in 1915, and spent nearly three years in France during World War I. Riggs trained as a printer in Belleville. Riggs moved to Windsor in 1921, where he worked for 42 years as a linotype printer at the Windsor Star, and retired in 1961. He was highly active as a trade unionist, holding many offices within the Windsor Typographical Union and the Windsor District Trades and Labor Council. Riggs was one of the first members of Ontario's Labor Party in the 1930s. In 1935, he accepted his first public position was on the Windsor Library Board. In the 1940s, he was defeated in his first election for positive of alderman in Windsor's Ward 4.

Riggs was elected in a CCF sweep in 1943, defeating the Liberal candidate, David Croll.