Career
Born in Linlithgowshire, Scotland in 1875, he emigrated to Canada in 1883 and was a broom-maker in Hamilton, Ontario by 1899. When the 9lst Regiment Canadian Highlanders was formed in Hamilton in 1903, Rollo enlisted and rose over time to become its colour sergeant. Rollo was secretary of the Hamilton Trades and Labour Council from 1906 to 1919.
In 1919, he also became editor of the Labor News, a Hamilton-based union paper.
Rollo was involved in politics at all levels. In 1907, Rollo was elected as the President of the newly formed Independent Labour Party, and would become its leader in 1917.
He stood for election in Hamilton West in the following campaigns:
in the Ontario 1914 general election, which he lost by only 39 votes,
in the federal 1917 general election, where he came in second,
In his campaign, signs were posted that read: "Your Vote for Walter Rollo is a nail in the coffin of the profiteer."
He, together with Morrison Mann MacBride, was instrumental in negotiating a coalition government between the Independent Labour Party and the United Farmers of Ontario under East.C. Drury, which lasted until 1923. As a result of those negotiations, the ILP had the right to nominate two of its members to the new government: Rollo became the Province"s first Minister of Labour, and Harry Mills became the first Minister of Mines.
This caused a confrontation within the ILP, as MacBride had sought to be nominated to the Labour position.
During his time as Minister, Rollo brought in several enhancements to Ontario"s labour laws:
the Minimum Wage Acting, which set minimum wages for female employees,
the One Day"s Rest in Seven Acting, which provided (with certain exceptions) that employees were entitled to 24 consecutive hours of rest every seven days,
improvements to workmen"s compensation benefits
After his defeat in the 1923 general election, Rollo was appointed as an adolescent school inspector for the City of Hamilton, and he was still working as a school attendance officer there in 1938, and as a part-time school assessment adviser in 1950. He died in 1957.
