Robert Middlemiss (January 8, 1935 – May 28, 2010) was an engineer and politician from Quebec, who served in the Robert Bourassa and Daniel Johnson Jr. governments.
From 1970 until 1979, Middlemiss was an elected alderman for Aylmer. In 1981, his friend Michel Gratton convinced him to be a Liberal candidate in Pontiac, a newly reformed riding that now included the territory of Aylmer.[1]
Being born of an anglophone father and a French-speaking mother, he had the advantage of being equally at ease in both communities. On his first attempt, in 1981, he was elected easily; however, the Liberal Party under leader Claude Ryan formed the opposition. Middlemiss was re-elected four times and never faced a serious challenge in the heavily federalist riding, only once dipping below 50% in 1989 due to the English-speaking minority rights Equality Party challenging the Liberal Government over the invocation of the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to override a Supreme Court of Canada ruling overturning parts of the Charter of the French Language.