Dr. George Weir

Born in Miami, Manitoba, George Moir Weir (1885–1949) was educated at McGill University and the University of Chicago, was a Professor of Education at the University of British Columbia, and became B.C.’s Minister of Education and Provincial Secretary in T. Dufferin Pattullo’s 1933 Liberal government. After consultations with the public and the medical profession in 1934, Weir, with the support of the Liberal caucus, introduced health insurance legislation in 1935 and again in 1936. Although Weir was proud of his legislation and the coverage it offered, doctors in British Columbia refused to support it because they felt it lacked a good funding formula and left many poor British Columbians without funding. Nevertheless, as Weir wrote, “The need for health insurance is apparent to every unbiased observer” (“Weir Presents Brief for Health Insurance Plan,” Vancouver Sun [Saturday, May 7, 1938], Section 1: p. 3).