Джон Уэйр Фут: Герой, Капеллан и Политик

Canadian politician and military chaplain

John Weir Foote, (May 5, 1904 – May 2, 1988) was a Canadian military chaplain and politician. He received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Dieppe Raid in 1942. Foote is the only Canadian chaplain to be awarded the Victoria Cross. After the war he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and served as a Progressive Conservative member from 1948 to 1959. He represented the riding of Durham. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of Leslie Frost.

Foote was born in Madoc in eastern Ontario on May 5, 1904. He was educated at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and at Presbyterian College and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He entered the Presbyterian ministry in 1934, serving congregations in Fort Coulonge, Quebec, and Port Hope, Ontario. In 1934 it is recorded that Rev. John Weir Foote joined the Loyal Orange Association, being initiated into Fraserville Loyal Orange Lodge No. 46, Ontario. In December 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Canadian Army. He was posted to The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI) as the Regimental Chaplain with the rank of Honorary Captain.

He won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1948 provincial election and served as the Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Durham. He was first appointed to serve as Deputy Commissioner for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, then into the cabinet after the 1951 election as Ontario Minister of Reform Institutions, but stepped down in 1957, following a number of heart attacks. He retired from the provincial legislature in 1959.

Foote returned to the RHLI in 1964, serving as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel until 1973. He made his home with his wife, the former Edith Sheridan (1898–1986), in Cobourg, Ontario, until his death on May 2, 1988. He is buried in Union Cemetery, Cobourg.

The Royal Canadian Legion branch in Grafton, Ontario was renamed the Lt. Col. John W Foote V. C. C. D Branch 580 in 1982. The James Street Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario, where the RHLI is now based, along with The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) and 11 Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, was renamed the John W. Foote VC Armoury in his memory. Prior to his death, John Foote donated his medals to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry where they are held at the RHLI Heritage Museum at the John W Foote VC Armoury. The Armoury is a Classified Federal Heritage Building 1986 on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.