Vaughan L. Baird

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Vaughan Lawson Baird C.M., Q.C., LL.D. is a retired Canadian barrister from Sainte-Agathe, Manitoba who is active is politics and sports. He was educated at the University of Manitoba (B.A. 1949), Dalhousie University (LL.D. 1952), University of Paris-Sorbonne (Dip. 1953), University of Winnipeg (LL.D. (Hon.) 1987).

Baird distinguished himself as a Canadian 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 a Supreme Court of Canada historic decision to legislate that official government publications be printed in both the English and French languages.

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 Party of Canada candidate in the Saint Boniface electoral district in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but was defeated by Liberal candidate' Joseph-P. Guay.

For decades Baird served as an internationally renowned diving judge, working at every major competition including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, 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 honorary 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 in 1992 was made a Member of the Order of Canada.