Remembering Canon Alan Winship

Canon Alan Winship, Chancellor Emeritus for the Diocese of Ottawa, 87, passed away on May 5, 2021. 

Winship’s 40-year service to the diocese as Solicitor and later as Chancellor, began in the 1970s and continued through the tenures of six bishops.

After earning degrees at the University of Saskatchewan, Carleton, Queen’s and finishing his training as a lawyer at the University of Toronto’s Osgoode Hall, Winship began his career in the civil service in the department of Trade and Commerce, including work on the government’s response to needs in developing countries. Later, after earning his law degree at Queen’s University, he worked at the Privy Council Office during the early days of Prime Minister Lester Pearson’s government.

In 1966, Winship left the civil service to article with the law firm of Stuart Wotherspoon, who was also the Chancellor of the Diocese. Wotherspoon was working on revising the diocesan Canons, Bylaws and Regulations. Winship began to help with that work and later led it. 

Bishop Ed Lackey appointed Winship as Diocesan Solicitor in 1981. Winship also served as Chancellor from 2000 to 2004 and retired from work as the Diocesan solicitor in 2019.