Bert Weeks

Albert Howard "Bert" Weeks (July, 1 1917 - Dec. 10, 1990) was the 28th mayor of the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, from 1975 to 1982 and considered by many to be its best in recent memory.^[1] Previously, he had been a perennial candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and its successor, the New Democratic Party (NDP), in the Windsor area. He ran 22 times (at the municipal, provincial and federal levels) between the 1950s and 1980s, winning 12 times. It was during a 1974 November blizzard that stretched the voting into second day and night that Weeks upset then mayor Frank Wansbrough to first become mayor. He went on to serve two more terms (the last by acclimation). During his first term, he successfully advocated to change the term length from two to three years as he felt mayors would be more productive with three-year terms. He is remembered for advocating for public green space in the city of Windsor and spearheaded the formation of 9 parks including the Gnatchio Trail, Peche Island, Ojibway Prairie Grass Reserve, Malden Park, as well as the beautification of Windsor's waterfront along the Detroit River.^[2] He was also an avid gardener.

He was born in Montreal and moved to Windsor in 1946 with his wife Sheila and two-year-old twin daughters. Four other children were born in Windsor. ^[3] He ran a watch repair and jewellery business.^[2]

Frustrated with blatant illegal activities in Windsor, Weeks organized the Citizens Action Committee shortly after moving to Windsor in 1946 to look into police inaction "after hearing that people were being beaten up and disappearing" [Windsor Star, Dec. 11/90]. He later collected information on corruption in the Windsor police force and provided it to the Ontario Provincial Police, but had to do so in Detroit in order to ensure his safety. At his wife's insistence, he armed himself with a large screwdriver figuring if he was questioned at the Windsor/Detroit border, "I could always way I was going to fix a clock" [Windsor Star, Dec. 11/90]. This led to a report from the provincial Attorney General Dana Porter in 1950 which was critical of the Windsor police force. Two members of the police commission resigned and later the police chief and deputy chief also resigned. Although mayor Reaume denied any knowledge of the situation, as the third member of the police commission, his reputation was tarnished as well. Weeks was elected to Windsor city council in 1954 and 1965.^[4]

When Weeks ran against incumbent mayor Frank Wansbrough in 1974, the initial vote count had him 300 votes behind Wansbrough. However, there had been an error in counting votes and the final tally had Weeks the winner by 749 votes.^[5] In February 1982, Weeks announced that he would not run for reelection later that year.^[6]

A humanitarian, Weeks was involved in various local efforts to provide safe haven for refugees including those from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and most notably, opened Windsor's doors to the Vietnamese Boat People following the end of the Vietnamese War in 1975 and the Communist takeover; Windsor became the first city in Canada to taken in Vietnamese refugees, which encouraged other cities to follow suit.

The Bert Weeks Memorial Garden and Fountain (at the foot of Parent Avenue on the Detroit Riverfront) was created to honour his memory with private donations by friends, colleagues, local auto unions, as well as a donation from the City of Windsor.^[2]

In August 2014, Weeks's son Howard announced that he would run for a seat on Windsor city council in the election held in October, but did not win.^[1]

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