Robertson was a telegrapher by profession and had links with conservatives in the labour movement. In January 1917, he was appointed to the Senate as a Conservative as a means of bringing in labour representation during the First World War. When Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden formed a Unionist government in October as a means of creating a national government for the war effort, he included Robertson in the cabinet, making him minister without portfolio despite not having a seat in the House of Commons, to represent organised labour.
He held this portfolio in 1919 during the Winnipeg General Strike. At the beginning of the strike Robertson and Minister of Interior Arthur Meighen went to the city to meet the "Citizens' Committee of 1000" which had been formed by local businessmen and professionals in opposition to the strike. He refused to meet the Central Strike Committee to hear their demands.
Robertson ordered federal government employees to return to work or lose their jobs.
On June 17, he ordered the arrest of the twelve principal strike leaders, including J. S. Woodsworth. Robertson also supported the government's decision to send in the Royal North-West Mounted Police to crush the strike in an action that became known as "Bloody Saturday".
Robertson earned the longstanding enmity of the left and labour movement for his role in the strike. Despite his background, most of the working class did not consider him a legitimate representative of workers.
Robertson returned to government when R. B. Bennett's Conservatives won the 1930 election, and again became Minister of Labour, but remained unpopular with his constituents.
When visiting Winnipeg in 1932, six thousand workers met him at the railway station with the slogan: "A Faker Comes to Town." He stepped down as Labour minister in February and died in Ottawa the next year, two weeks after being paralyzed by a stroke.[1]
1Until 1909, the office of the minister of Labour was a secondary function of the Postmaster-General of Canada. W. L. M. King was the first to hold the office independently.
2The office of Minister of Employment and Immigration, and Minister of Labour were abolished and the office of Minister of Human Resources Development went in force on July 12, 1996. Under the new provisions, a Minister of Labour may be appointed. However, when no Minister of Labour is appointed, the Minister of Human Resources Development shall exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Minister of Labour.
