By golly! They're still alive!

by Maurice Y. Michaud (he/him)

Maybe it's just me. Or maybe not.

Even when I was young, I didn't think of 20, 30 or 40 years ago as being far back in time. Of course, I suppose it depends on what we're talking about. If we're talking about that teal shirt I used to wear back in the 1990s and assumed I had long left behind in one of my moves but I found the other day in my cedar chest that I rarely open, then yes, I'm ready to call it that old thing. But if we're talking about history, 40 years ago is a blip in time. That said, when I realize that "40 years ago" means 1984, then I'm likely to start feeling a bit faint.

Perhaps because I compiled all the Canadian election results since 1867, the year 1968 doesn't seem that far back. But then it dawned on me. Given that, in 1968, one still had to be 21 years old to vote or run for office, the youngest person whose name would have been on a ballot would be 77 years old today. And given that the average age of those who were elected to Parliament that year was 46, that would mean that they would be on average 102 years old today. In other words, the vast majority are with that guy who had secured Canada's first majority government since 1958. Whether or not they're liking being in his company is irrelevant.

So that got me thinking. How far back in time must we go to still find at least one surviving former elected parliamentarian? I (and you) now have the answer in this table. (Nunavut is excluded as its first assembly goes back only 25 years.) As of April 2024, there are still some members who were elected under the CCF or Alberta Social Credit banners!

Legend }			PAR  Party at first election ⊕ Alive: 25 (m: 23; f:: 2) Legislature (Current/Oldest) Ages are in red when the person's precise date of birth is unknown.				Age1 = Current age Age2 = Age at the time G = General Election B = By-Election
Jurisdiction			Legislature		Who		Age		Election
1	CA		44 (2021–2025)	24 (1958–1962)	PC PC PC PC	⊕ Gérard Bruchési m (Beauharnois—Salaberry) ⊕ John A.W. Drysdale m (Burnaby—Richmond) ⊕ Émilien Morissette m (Rimouski) ⊕ Joseph Slogan m (Springfield)	93 97 97 93	27 31 31 27	1958-03-31 G 1958-03-31 G 1958-03-31 G 1958-12-15 B
9	AB		31 (2023–2027)	15 (1963–1967)	SC	⊕ Raymond A. Speaker m (Little Bow)	88	27	1963-06-17 G
8	BC		42 (2020–2024)	28 (1966–1969)	NDP	⊕ Robert A. Williams m (Vancouver East)	90	32	1966-09-12 G
11	MB		43 (2023–2027)	25 (1958–1959)	CCF	⊕ Edward R. Schreyer m (Brokenhead)	88	22	1958-06-16 G
3	NB		60 (2020–2024)	45 (1963–1967)	LIB	⊕ Frederick E. Soucy m (Madawaska)	102	41	1963-04-22 G
7	NL		50 (2021–2025)	34 (1966–1971)	LIB LIB LIB	⊕ Thomas W. Burgess m (Labrador West) ⊕ William N. Rowe m (White Bay South) ⊕ Clyde K. Wells m (Humber East)	90 81 86	33 24 28	1966-09-08 G 1966-09-08 G 1966-09-08 G
2	NS		64 (2021–2025)	49 (1967–1970)	PC PC	⊕ A. Angus (Tando) MacIsaac m (Guysborough) ⊕ Gordon A. Tidman m (Kings West)	80 91	25 34	1969-02-11 B 1967-05-30 G
14	NT		20 (2023–2027)	7 (1970–1975)	IND IND IND IND	⊕ Willie Adams m (Keewatin) ⊕ Lena E.M. Pedersen f (Central Arctic) ⊕ James Rabesca m (Great Slave North) ⊕ Nick G. Sibbeston m (Mackenzie-Laird)	89 84 79 80	36 30 26 27	1970-12-21 G 1970-12-21 G 1970-12-21 G 1970-12-21 G
6	ON		43 (2022–2026)	26 (1959–1963)	LIB	⊕ Robert F. Nixon m (Brant)	95	33	1962-01-18 B
4	PE		67 (2023–2027)	50 (1962–1966)	LIB	⊕ Alexander B. Campbell m (Prince 5th - Councillor)	90	31	1965-02-09 B
5	QC		43 (2022–2026)	26 (1960–1962)	QLP QLP	⊕ Harry Blank m (Montréal—Saint-Louis) ⊕ Gérald Harvey m (Jonquière-Kénogami)	98 96	35 32	1960-06-22 G 1960-06-22 G
10	SK		29 (2020–2024)	13 (1956–1960)	CCF	⊕ Kim Thorson m (Souris-Estevan)	92	24	1956-06-20 G
12	YT		35 (2021–2025)	23 (1974–1978)	IND IND IND	⊕ H. Daniel Lang m (Whitehorse Porter Creek) ⊕ Eleanor Millard f (Ogilvie) ⊕ Willard L. Phelps m (Whitehorse Riverdale)	76 82 82	26 32 32	1974-10-07 G 1974-10-07 G 1974-10-07 G
For each parliament, there is no surviving elected member in assemblies prior to the one shown here.