He worked as a farmer, was active in freemasonry, and was the secretary-treasurer of the Rosebank Cooperative, selling oil and supplies.
[2] He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in a by-election held on June 22, 1943, in the constituency of Dufferin.
Collins, a Conservative, was elected by acclamation and sat as a government backbencher.
He was re-elected in the 1945 provincial election as an independent candidate supporting the coalition.
Collins ran for the legislature again in the 1953 provincial election as a Progressive Conservative,[1] and finished third against Liberal-Progressive candidate Walter McDonald.