Vaughan L. Baird

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Vaughan L. Baird CM QC University of Manitoba, B.A. 1949 Dalhousie University, LL.D. 1952 University of Paris-Sorbonne, Dip. 1953 University of Winnipeg, LL.D. (Hon.) 1987 Vaughan L. Baird is a Canadian barrister (retired) who is active is politics and sports. Baird distinguished himself as a constitutional lawyer when he argued for French-language constitutional rights in Manitoba, including a seven year battle which became known as the Bilodeau Case and which resulted in Supreme Court of Canada’s historic decision to legislate that official government publications be printed in both English and French. Long active in political circles, Baird has for years advocated a One Member – One Vote rule for electing leaders of political parties in Canada and the United Kingdom, a system now widely used. He ran for office in the 1968 Federal election as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Saint Boniface electoral district in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but was defeated by Liberal candidate Joseph-P. Guay by a margin of almost 3 to 1. For decades Baird served as an internationally renowned diving judge, working at every major competition including the Olympics, Commonwealth, Worlds and Pan Am Games. As a sportsman, he is a former diving, swimming and boxing champion. He established the Canadian Amateur Diving Association Inc., was founding vice-president of the Aquatics Federation of Canada, founder of the Royal Commonwealth Society (Manitoba branch) and founding president of the Manitoba Sports Federation. In 1967, Baird co-founded the Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada Inc. in Winnipeg. Originally located in the Pan-Am Pool Complex, it remains the oldest incorporated sports museum in the country and contains one of the largest collections of aquatic and Olympic sports posters in the world, along with aquatic art and memorabilia valued at more than $4 million. The collection is currently in storage, awaiting a new home. Baird is a former honourary consul of Peru, and has received many national and international awards, including the Diplôme de Civilisation Française (1953), Air Canada Sports Executive of the Year (1971), Bill Schroeder Service Award from the International Association of Sports Museums & Halls of Fame (1994), and the Commonwealth Games Canada Award of Merit (2000). He is author of The Sculptress Marguerite Taylor (1966), The Sculptor Cecil C. Clarence Richards R.C.A. (1981) and A Canadian History of the Art and Sport of Diving (1994). An annual award named in Baird’s honour recognizes exceptional contributions to the art and sport of diving. Baird was named to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and is a Member of the Order of Canada.