George Van Roggen

Who was George Van Roggen?

George Clifford Van Roggen was a Canadian Senator and a longtime advocate of free trade with the United States.

Van Roggen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. After graduating in law from the University of British Columbia, Van Roggen went to Whitehorse, Yukon in 1949 becoming the town's only practicing lawyer. He later became future Conservative MP Eric Nielsen's law partner.

He returned to Vancouver in 1957 to practice corporate law specializing in corporate real estate.

He was a Liberal Party activist and served as British Columbia campaign chair for the Liberals under Lester Pearson and served in the same role under Pierre Trudeau for the 1968 and 1972 federal elections.

The issue of free trade with the United States had been a dead letter in Canadian politics since the defeat of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's government in the 1911 federal election on the issue of what was called "reciprocity" with the United States. In 1966, Van Roggen spearheaded the approval of a pro-free trade resolution at a national Liberal Party conference. The motion passed but Prime Minister Pearson responded by saying the issue should not be considered "at this time."