William Charles "Bill" Riggs (1896 – December 20, 1973) was a Member of Provincial Parliament in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 from 1943 to 1945. He represented the riding of Windsor—Walkerville

Windsor—Walkerville

Windsor—Walkerville was a federal electoral district that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988. It was located in the southwest corner of the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Essex East and Essex West ridings. The electoral district...

 for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation – The Farmer-Labor Party of Ontario, or more informally and commonly known as The Ontario CCF, was a democratic socialist political party that existed from 1932 to 1961. It was the provincial wing of the National CCF. The party officially had no leader in...

 (CCF) and was also briefly Mayor of Windsor in 1969.
Riggs was born in 1896 in England, but moved to Belleville, Ontario

Belleville, Ontario

Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...

, where he was educated. He joined the Canadian Field Artillery in 1915, and spent nearly three years in France during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Riggs trained as a printer in Belleville. Riggs moved to Windsor in 1921, where he worked for 42 years as a linotype printer at the Windsor Star

Windsor Star

The Windsor Star is the regional newspaper of Windsor, Ontario , and is owned by the Postmedia Network Inc. Since 1923, the publication's main office is located at 167 Ferry Street in the downtown area...

, and retired in 1961. He was highly active as a trade unionist, holding many offices within the Windsor Typographical Union and the Windsor District Trades and Labor Council. Riggs was one of the first members of Ontario's Labor Party in the 1930s. In 1935, he accepted his first public position was on the Windsor Library Board. In the 1940s, he was defeated in his first election for positive of alderman in Windsor's Ward 4.
Riggs was elected in a CCF sweep in 1943

Ontario general election, 1943

The Ontario general election of 1943 was held on August 4, 1943, to elect the 90 Members of the 21st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

, defeated the Liberal candidate, David Croll. As an MPP, he served on several Legislative Committees including Printing, Game and Fish, Municipal Law, Education, and Labour. He lost his seat in 1945

Ontario general election, 1945

The Ontario general election of 1945 was held on June 4, 1945, to elect the 90 members of the 22nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

 to the Progressive Conservative candidate Rev. M.C. Davies. He was again selected as the CCF candidate for the Windsor-Walkerville riding in the 1948

Ontario general election, 1948

The Ontario general election of 1948 was held on June 7, 1948, to elect the 90 members of the 23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

 Ontario election, but lost again to Davies. He subsequently ran for the CCF in the 1949 Federal election

Canadian federal election, 1949

The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...

 in Essex East against cabinet minister Paul Martin, Sr

Paul Joseph James Martin

Joseph James Guillaume Paul Martin, PC, CC, QC , often referred to as Paul Martin, Sr, was a noted Canadian politician. He was the father of Paul Martin , who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 - 2006.-Early life:Martin was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Lumina and Joseph...

. In 1964 he finished second in a provincial election in the riding of Windsor-Sandwich.
He was first elected as alderman for Ward Three in Windsor in 1946 and was acclaimed in 1948 and 1950. He was defected in 1952 and 1954 elections for the Board of Control, but was re-elected as alderman in 1956, a position he held for the following 13 years. When John Wheelton

John Wheelton

John "Jack" Wheelton was the 25th mayor of the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, from 1965 to 1969. Following his years as mayor, he was an Ontario Provincial Court judge. He was an avid gardener who enjoyed the outdoors...

 resigned as mayor of Windsor in 1969, Riggs replaced him for a period of 5 months. Four alderman received 2 votes during the city council vote for a replacement. Riggs won the job by drawing a queen from a pack of cards, the method used to break the die. When He was the first mayor to lead the Windsor Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 Parade. He was replaced by Frank Wansborough at the beginning of 1970.

Riggs was married to Gladys and had two sons and two daughters.
An apartment building in East Windsor is named after him: Riggs Manor at 4365 Wyandotte Street East.