He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1921 to 1925 as an independent Labour Member of Parliament (MP), and later became an MLA and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.

Shaw was born at Port Arthur, Ontario (later Thunder Bay), and received his early education in Calgary, Alberta.

[3] Shaw sought re-election in 1925 as an independent candidate, and this time received unofficial support from the Liberal Party of Canada.

In part due to the Single Transferable Voting system in use in Edmonton and Calgary, there were four opposition groups in the Alberta legislature.

He ran for the "Independent Movement" (an anti-Social Credit fusion of Liberals and Progressive Conservatives) in the 1940 provincial election in Calgary where Single Transferable Voting was in use.