Earl Thompson Collins (September 3, 1895
The son of Christopher Fowler Collins and Susanna Thompson, Collins was educated in Miami, Winnipeg and Toronto. He worked as a farmer, was active in freemasonry, and was the secretary-treasurer of the Rosebank Cooperative, selling oil and supplies. In 1928, Collins married Hazel Viola Campbell.
He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in a by-election held on June 22, 1943, in the constituency of Dufferin.