Canada's electoral history from 1867 to today

Am I reading that right ?!

by Maurice Y. Michaud (he/him)

I didn’t see that coming!

So far, PoliCan contains 36,839 links to 33,733 online documents, all leading to more information on nearly a quarter of the 68,908 names that appear in this website. I have read all of those documents — not always every word, but many times I did because I let myself get dragged in by those people's stories, even though I had never heard of them before I started this project.

That is how I came to develop the themes that you see throughout this website, like "youngest and oldest," "died in office," and so on. However, some of the stories offered nuggets that were occasionally just intriguing or funny (literally or in a dark humour manner) and sometimes downright appalling or outrageous. I mean, how is it that I had never heard, before embarking on this project, about that Social Credit MLA in Alberta who committed one of that province's worst mass killings back in the 1950s?

This list is subjective and I will keep adding to it as I come across those factoids again. It is not meant to be a list of praise or condemnation; it's just stuff that made me laugh, or that I find interesting, or that made me say, "Huh?!"

Before you start, go fill up whatever that is you are drinking, because there are 724 featured so far. At a normal reading speed, this could take you five hours... as long as you don't go off on too many tangents! The last update was on 27 March 2024.



A

Zanana L. Akande (±87) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1937 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Politics left a sour taste in Akande's mouth. She didn't complete her first and only term in the Ontario legislature and hasn't belonged to a political party since then. As she was leaving the governing NDP, she said, "a government must reflect everyone in the province. But this government has compromised its base. I can't identify with this party."
Jeremy B. Akerman (81) years old as of today. This person was born on
28 May 1942 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
Born in the UK and coming to Canada in 1964, Akerman became the leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party in September 1968, at the age of 26. Respected by members of all political parties and considered one of the ablest debaters in the assembly, he served in that position for 12 years. He then worked in the Nova Scotia public service for a decade before resuming his career as an actor and portrait and landscape painter. He attempted a political comeback in the March 2001 by-election in Halifax Fairview, held to replace the NDP member, Eileen O'Connell, who had died the previous September, but this time as a Liberal. He was defeated by the NDP candidate and future finance minister, Graham Steele.
Harold G. Albrecht (74) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 October 1949 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
On the night of his third election victory in 2011, Betty, Albrecht's wife of nearly 40 years, suffered a brain hemorrhage and died two days later. Aged 63, Albrecht married Darlene McLean two years later.
Charles Alexander (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 June 1816 — 4 November 1905.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Dying from dramatic falls seemed to occur more often with former politicians in the 19th century. A one-term Liberal in the Québec assembly, Alexander died at the age of 89 after falling from a second story window in his home. He had been out of the assembly for 30 years at the time.
James P. Alexander (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 June 1835 — 16 April 1912.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Alexander is said to have died of a heart attack in a barber's chair after hearing of his friend John Hugo Ross's death on the Titanic.
Lincoln M. Alexander (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 January 1922 — 19 October 2012.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
When Alexander won Hamilton West for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1968 general election, he was the first Black man elected to the House of Commons.
Jean Alfred (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 March 1940 — 20 July 2015.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
The one-term PQ MNA for Papineau (1976–1981) was the first Black member of the Quebec National Assembly. It was the first and only time that the Parti Québécois won that riding.
Shafqat Ali (±59) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1965 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
In May 2022, Ali, the new Liberal MP for Brampton Centre, had to apologize to the House of Commons for virtually appearing in the House from a toilet stall. (The guy isn't shy, we'll give him that!)
Rona C. Ambrose Veitch (55) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 March 1969 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Ambrose Veitch is a feminist and also calls herself a libertarian who is a fan of Ayn Rand's novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in women's and gender studies from the University of Victoria and a Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Alberta.
Herbert B. Ames (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 June 1863 — 30 March 1954.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Ames, a Conservative MP from Montreal, inherited the family shoe company and used much of his fortune to help the poor and fight corruption. An avid philanthropist, he funded a 39-unit apartment housing complex for the poor on William Street, called Diamond Court, which has since been demolished.
Jack Iyerak Anawak (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 September 1950 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 3
When the Canadian two-dollar coin was introduced in 1996, Anawak proposed the nickname "Nanuq" (polar bear) in honour of Canadian Inuit and their northern culture. However, this culturally meaningful proposal went largely unnoticed.
Robert J. Anders (51) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 April 1972 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
An Alberta MP for the Reform / Canadian Alliance / Conservative Party from 1997 to 2015, Anders wrote in 2010 in a card supporting Canadian troops, "When in doubt, pull the trigger." It should be noted that this is the same guy who, a year later, was removed from the Veterans' Affairs Committee due to his tendency to fall asleep during meetings.
James T.M. Anderson (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 July 1878 — 29 December 1946.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 3
Fifth premier of Saskatchewan, Anderson was alleged to work closely with the Ku Klux Klan, a powerful organization in that province in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Shaye Q. Anderson (49) years old as of today. This person was born on
21 March 1975 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Anderson, the Alberta NDP MLA for Leduc-Beaumont from 2015 to 2019, was noticed for his pronounced facial hair when he was elected, bringing National Post columnist Jen Gerson to refer to it as "the most conspicuous and healthy beard seen in Canadian politics this side of the 19th century."
Dominique Anglade (50) years old as of today. This person was born on
31 January 1974 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Anglade, leader of the Québec Liberal Party from 2020 to 2022, lost her mother, her father, an uncle, and a cousin in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
C.J. Sylvanus Apps (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 January 1915 — 24 December 1998.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Apps was an Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP from 1963 to 1975, but prior to that, he was a Toronto Maple Leaf from 1936 to 1948.
François Aquin (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 March 1929 — 23 November 2017.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
When Aquin left the Québec Liberal Party on August 3, 1967, to sit as an independant, he became the first openly sovereignist MNA. He resigned on November 20, 1968. Although he participated in its founding, he did not join the Parti Québécois.
Adrien Arcand (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 October 1899 — 1 August 1967.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Arcand, who proclaimed himself the Canadian Führer, ran federally twice (in 1949 and 1953), coming second in a field of four candidates each time.
Harry G. Archibald (±54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 September 1910 — c. September 1965.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Elected to Parliament for one term in 1945 under the CCF banner, Archibald was a sympathiser of Trotskyism and a covert member of the Revolutionary Workers' Party during part of his term.
Hazen R. Argue (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 January 1921 — 2 October 1991.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 6
After losing the leadership race for the newly formed NDP in August 1961 to Tommy Douglas, Argue declared in his concession speech, "No matter what my role is in the years ahead, I shall speak for you. I shall work for you. I shall never let you down." But then he crossed to the Liberal Party in February 1962. He was called to the Senate in 1966 and served there until his death in 1991.
George Armstrong (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 April 1870 — 13 February 1956.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 1
Armstrong was one of the three convicted criminals (for his involvement in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919) who was elected in the 1920 Manitoba general election. He was still in prison when elected as one of the MLAs for Winnipeg, representing the Socialist Party of Canada (Manitoba).
Aubin-Edmond Arsenault (97) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 July 1870 — 27 April 1968.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
When Arsenault, a Conservative, was named premier of Prince Edward Island on June 21, 1917, he was the first Acadian in any province to reach that position.
Kevin Arseneau (38) years old as of today. This person was born on
25 August 1985 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
First elected in 2018, Arseneau is the first Acadian to be elected as a third-party MLA in New Brunswick as well as the first francophone in North America to be elected under the Green Party banner.
Uzoma Asagwara (39) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 September 1984 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Upon their election in 2019, in addition to being the first non-binary person, Asagwara was one of the first three Black Canadian MLAs in Manitoba.
Yvonne Atwell (81) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 January 1943 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Atwell was the first black woman elected to the Nova Scotia legislature.
Louis-Mathias Auger (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 April 1902 — 6 March 1966.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Liberal, Auger was forced to resign his Ontario seat of Prescott on March 21, 1929, after being accused of raping a young woman from his constituency who had come to see him in the House of Commons about possible employment in the public service. After five trials and two appeals over sixteen months, he was acquitted of rape but found guilty of seduction, leading to a two-year sentence in Kingston Penitentiary, the maximum penalty for that crime. After prison, he tried four times to get re-elected as an Independent Liberal — thrice provincially and once federally — but by then his reputation was ruined.
Samuel Ault (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 December 1814 — 28 August 1895.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Ault was a resident of Aultville, a village that was later submerged beneath the waters of the Saint Lawrence River when the Saint Lawrence Seaway was built.
Allen B. Aylesworth (97) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 November 1854 — 13 February 1952.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
In his capacity as federal minister of justice at the turn of the 20th century, Aylesworth oversaw the pardon of Angelina Napolitano , Canada's first battered woman defence case.

B

George H. Baker (38) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 November 1877 — 2 June 1916.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Baker is the only sitting Canadian MP to be killed in action on military service.
Percival Baker (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 January 1867 — 19 July 1921.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Baker was the elected United Farmers of Alberta candidate in Ponoka in the 1921 general election, but died the day after. He had had an accident while chopping down trees on his farm three weeks prior to the election.
Peter Baker (±86) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. April 1887 — 13 November 1973.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Born Bedouin Ferran in what is now Lebanon, Baker is one of Canada's earliest Muslim politicians. Nicknamed the Arctic Arab, he served as the MLA for Mackenzie North (1964–1967) in the legislature of the Northwest Territories.
William D. Balfour (45) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 August 1851 — 19 August 1896.
Died in office.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
Named Ontario provincial secretary in July 1896, Balfour won a ministerial by-election by acclamation on August 4. He died of complications caused by tuberculosis two weeks later.
Gilles Baril (83) years old as of today. This person was born on
8 December 1940 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
In the 1985 Quebec general election, Gilles Baril the Liberal defeated Gilles Baril the Péquiste in Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue.
Pamela T. Barrett (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 November 1953 — 21 January 2008.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Barrett resigned as Alberta NDP leader and MLA in February 2000 after having what she claimed to be a near-death experience in a dentist's chair. She went on to die of esophageal cancer eight years later, at age 54.
Mary J. Batten (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 August 1921 — 9 October 2015.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A Saskatchewan Liberal, Batten, upon her election in 1956, was the first woman of Ukranian origin to become an MLA.
Jaime Battiste (±45) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1979 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Upon his election as the Liberal MP for Sydney—Victoria in the 2019 federal election, Battiste became the first Mi'kmaw MP in Canada.
Dorian A. Baxter (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 April 1950 — .
Times presented: 14;   Times elected: 0
An extreme perennial candidate, Baxter was an Progressive Canadian candidate 11 times from 2004 to 2019. The centre-right party, which was dissolved after the 2019 federal election, had been formed in protest of the merger of the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party. At age 71, Baxter ran for a twelfth time federally in 2021, this time as an independent, winning fewer votes than the number of votes rejected.
Louis-René Beaudoin (57) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 May 1912 — 21 February 1970.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Beaudoin, the Liberal MP for Vaudreuil—Soulanges from 1945 to 1958, was the Speaker in the 22nd parliament. His term ended in controversy, tarnishing his reputation, and he voluntarily retired from politics in 1958. Moving to the United States that year, he divorced his first wife and married his second, who was 24 years his junior. He went from being the speaker to being a bartender in a tavern in Arizona and, later, a high school teacher in the Laurentians. He died of a heart attack, "virtually penniless and alone, in the back seat of a Montreal taxi," at the age of 57.
Monique Bégin (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 March 1936 — 8 September 2023.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
When Bégin won the riding of Saint-Michel for the Liberal Party in the 1972 general election, she was one of the first three women from Québec to be elected to the Canadian Parliament
Henri-Sévérin Béland (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 October 1869 — 22 April 1935.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 9
Béland was re-elected by acclamation as the Liberal MP for the Québec riding of Beauce in the 1917 general election, this despite his being held as a prisoner of war at Stadtvogtei Prison in Berlin, Germany.
Madeleine Bélanger (91) years old as of today. This person was born on
7 April 1932 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
When her husband died suddenly — Québec Liberal MNA for Mégantic-Compton Fabien Bélanger — she won the by-election three months later to replace him. He had held the seat for 2 years, 10 months and 14 days. She held it for 19 years, 4 months and 4 days. Madeleine Bélanger's daugther, Johanne Gonthier, then held the seat from 2007 to 2012, for 5 years, 5 months and 7 days.
Mauril A.J. Bélanger (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 June 1955 — 15 August 2016.
Died in office.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 8
After the 2015 election, Bélanger, a Liberal MP for 21 years, submitted his name for the position of Speaker of the House of Commons, but withdrew on November 30 after he had received a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was made honorary speaker for one day on March 9, 2016 – a first in Parliament – and presided over the proceedings with an iPad app that produced a computerized voice. He submitted a bill to make the English version of O Canada gender-neutral by changing the line "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command," but he did not live to see his bill receive royal assent.
Richard Bélisle (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
20 July 1946 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 1
Bélisle was narrowly elected as the Bloc Québécois MP for La Prairie in 1993 with a plurality of only 476 votes of the 63,860 cast. His electoral career went downhill after that. Defeated (again narrowly) in Saint-Lambert in 1997, he became a very unsuccessful Canadian Alliance and Conservative candidate federally and Liberal candidate provincially. After his last defeat in 2011, he was appointed to the Parole Board of Canada.
Francis C. Bell (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
31 May 1892 — 10 May 1968.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
A Manitoba Liberal-Progressive, Bell held various ministerial portfolios, including Agriculture (1948-1952), Health and Public Welfare (1952-1955), Public Works (1955-1956), and Mines and Natural Resources (1956-1958). The CCF opposition leader at the time, Lloyd Stinson, described him as "competent but unspectacular."
Carlito M. Benito (70) years old as of today. This person was born on
21 February 1954 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Benito made a campaign promise that, if elected, he would donate his salary to charity, but when elected, the Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA claimed that he didn't mean he'd give away his entire salary — just a part of it.
Leslie G. Benjamin (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 April 1925 — 16 June 2003.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
When Ronald Reagan addressed the Parliament of Canada in 1987, Benjamin, a Saskatchewan New Democrat, heckled him by crying "he's mad!"
W.A. Cecil (W.A.C.) Bennett (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 September 1900 — 23 February 1979.
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 11
Bennett became premier of British Columbia after the Social Credit Party's surprise electoral victory in 1952. He remained in that position for 20 years — a provincial record.
Maxime Bernier (61) years old as of today. This person was born on
18 January 1963 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 4
When Bernier formed the People's Party of Canada after losing the 2018 leadership race for the Conservative Party, some analysts looked to when dissenting Con­ser­va­tive Henry Stevens formed the Reconstruction Party in 1934. However, as of 2023, history does not seem to be repeating itself. In the 1935 general election, Con­ser­va­tives and Reconstructionists obtained 38.25% of the votes compared to 44.72% for the Liberals, with Stevens winning the only Re­con­struc­tion seat. In the 2019 and 2021 elections, while the PPC did siphon some votes from the Conservatives, the latter won the popular vote each time (but did not form government) and Bernier lost his seat and never managed to regain one.
Gabrielle Bertrand (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 May 1923 — 10 September 1999.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Widow of Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Union nationale premier of Québec from 1968 to 1970, Gabrielle Bertrand served as the Progressive Conservative MP for Brome—Missisquoi from 1984 to 1993. Their son, Jean-François Bertrand, was the Parti Québécois MNA for Vanier from 1976 to 1985, so it is notable that she was not among the PC members who formed the Bloc Québécois.
Manmeet S. Bhullar (35) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 March 1980 — 23 November 2015.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Stopping on the highway between Edmonton and Calgary in bad weather to assist a driver involved in a collision, Bhullar sustained fatal injuries after he was struck by a semi truck that had lost control descending a hill. He was 35 years old.
Frederick V. Bird (±91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 August 1885 — c. 1977.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
In 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, Bird, a Manitoba physician and surgeon and son of MLA John Bird in the 1890s, cancelled all debts owed to him by farmers. He tried twice to be elected to the legislature as a Liberal Progressive (in 1932 and 1936), but without success.
Thomas W. Bird (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 May 1883 — 9 June 1958.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Bird played an unexpected role in the King–Byng Affair, as he had fallen asleep during debate on a motion of non-confidence in the government and, when he woke up, he accidentally voted against his own government.
Bryan H. Bjarnason (98) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 April 1924 — 8 September 2022.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
A Liberal, Bjarnason ran four times for a seat in the Saskatchewan legislature, but each time he ran against Neil Byers of the NDP. Bjarnason won the first time in 1964 and the second time in 1967 by only 8 votes, but that win was declared invalid and he lost the resulting 1969 by-election.
George Black (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 April 1873 — 23 August 1965.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 6
When the Conservative MP for Yukon suffered a nervous breakdown toward the end of the 17th Parliament, his wife Martha won his seat in the 1935 general election, making her the second woman elected to Parliament. She occupied the seat for only one term until George returned to it from 1940 to 1949.
Lindsay M.C. Blackett (63) years old as of today. This person was born on
8 February 1961 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
As the minister responsible for culture speaking to a panel of the Banff World Television Festival in 2010, Blackett said, "I sit here as a govern­ment representative for film and television in the province of Alberta, and I look at what we produce, and if we're honest with ourselves … I look at it and say, 'Why do I produce so much shit? Why do I fund so much crap?'" He later apologized for his choice of words but not his sentiment.
John H. Blackmore (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 March 1890 — 2 May 1971.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
A Social Credit MP from Alberta, Blackmore, though not a polygamist himself, was ex­com­mu­ni­cated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1947 for "teaching and advocating the doctrine of plural marriage." As an MP, he urged Parliament to repeal the anti-polygamy law and succeeded in removing specific references to Mormons in the law.
Yves Blais (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 June 1931 — 22 November 1998.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Parti Québécois MNA since 1981, Blais died during the 1998 election campaign — one week before the election. It was postponed to two weeks later in his riding of Masson, and the new PQ candidate won it handily.
D. Edward Blake (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 October 1833 — 1 March 1912.
Times presented: 15;   Times elected: 14
In the first years of Confederation to as late as 1874, one could sit in both their provincial legislature and the federal parliament in what was known as the "double mandate." Blake is one of the most extreme examples: for several months in 1871–72, he was even the Liberal premier of Ontario while sitting as the MP for Bruce South and Durham West, eventually settling to sit only for Bruce South federally. He went on to sit in the British parliament from 1892 to 1907.
Hiram Blanchard (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 January 1820 — 17 December 1874.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
First Nova Scotia premier of the Confederation era (for two months in 1867) and Conservative opposition leader until 1874, Blanchard died the day of the 1874 election in which he was not running.
Lorne E. Blanchard (±83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 June 1883 — c. 1967.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
It is rather ironic that the exact date of this Saskatchewan Liberal's death cannot be found today given that he was a justice of the peace and a registrar for vital statistics.
Kenneth A. Blatchford (51) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 March 1882 — 20 April 1933.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
A Liberal from Alberta, Blatchford served only one term in Parliament before being defeated in 1930, and had been mayor of Edmonton from 1923 to 1926. He tried to get elected again as mayor in 1932, but failed. Five months after his defeat, he suffered a nervous breakdown and disappeared. His body was found in the North Saskatchewan River on April 22, 1933, after he had been missing for two days.
Joseph P. Borowski (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 December 1933 — 23 September 1996.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
In addition to being a staunch anti-abortionist, Borowski, a Manitoba New Democrat who later left that party, also published a series of anti-gay works in the late 1980s, including a document that called for "all known gays" to be quarantined from the rest of society until the AIDS epidemic had subsided, and a work entitled Child Moles­ta­tion and Homosexuality, the front page of which showed a middle-aged man at­tempt­ing to lure a child for sexual purposes. One of his main opponents was Glen Murray.
Bliss Botsford (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 November 1813 — 5 April 1890.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Botsford died in Moncton, New Brunswick, of massive fractures and internal haemor­rhages after collapsing while descending a flight of stairs and falling through a large window to the board sidewalk below. Mayor of Moncton in 1862 and speaker of the legislative assembly from 1868 to 1870, he was no longer an MLA for Westmorland at the time of his death at age 76.
Lucien Boudreau (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 August 1874 — 16 December 1962.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 4
Boudreau, an Alberta Liberal MLA in the early 1900s, was the only member to vote against the Alberta Equal Suffrage Act in 1916, arguing that "the place of women was in the home," and that "the duty of women, dictated by Providence, was greater than that of men and if the time had come when it was necessary that the administration of the country should be shared by them, it looked as if the men were becoming tired of their responsibility."
Edwin J. (Ted) Bounsall (88) years old as of today. This person was born on
6 November 1935 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
An Ontario NDP MPP from 1971 to 1985, Bounsall's political career ended over a bottle of vitamins. In 1985, he was charged with shoplifting one from a drug store, which he claimed he had absent­mind­edly put in his pocket and forgot to pay when he walked out. The judge did not believe his explanation, and although he was given an absolute discharge, the incident forced him to retire from politics.
Jos.-Henri-Nap. Bourassa (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 September 1868 — 31 August 1952.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 9
Different times, different priorities, so what could Henri Bourassa possibly have in common with Sheila Copps, born 88 days after Bourassa died? Both resigned on a matter of principle — Bourassa for Canada's participation in the Boer War, and Copps for her government not holding its promise to abolish the Goods and Services Tax established by the previous government. Both Bourassa and Copps were re-elected in their subsequent by-election.
P. Marion Boyd (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 March 1946 — 11 October 2022.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 2
Boyd defeated the sitting premier, David R. Peterson, when she was first elected in 1990 in London Centre, earning her the nickname of "giant killer." She went on to become Ontario's first female and non-lawyer attorney general.
John Bracken (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 June 1883 — 18 March 1969.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
When the struggling federal Conservative Party approached Manitoba Premier Bracken to become its leader in 1942, he accepted on the condition that the party be renamed Progressive Conservative. Bracken's political career had begun in 1922 as a Progressive, a movement that then splintered to the left and the right. Most on the left went on to form the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), while most on the right aligned with the Liberals. In fact, in Manitoba, the Progressives absorbed the Liberal Party of the time, although they agreed to be rebranded "Liberal Progressive" despite the fact they had become more dominant than the Liberals.
George Braden (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 November 1949 — 25 May 2015.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
When Braden became government leader (the equivalent of premier) of the North­west Ter­ri­to­ries on June 16, 1980, he was the youngest person ever to reach that office anywhere in Canada. At 30 years, 7 months and 12 days, he beat the previous record holder, New Brunswick's George King, who was 30 years, 7 months and 24 days when he became premier on June 1, 1870.
James J. Bradley (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 February 1945 — .
Times presented: 14;   Times elected: 11
Perhaps Bradley should have stopped while he was ahead. The Ontario Liberal failed to win a seat in 1967 and 1971, but finally succeeded in 1977. He served 40 years as MPP, winning 10 more elections. But at age 73, he finished in a relatively distant third place in 2018 when he tried to get a 12th mandate.
William J. Bragg (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 July 1858 — 27 June 1941.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
An Ontario Liberal, Bragg died after he was struck and run over by a horse-drawn milk wagon in Toronto. He had not been in office for nearly four years at the time of his death at age 82.
Théodore-Louis-Antoine Broët (38) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 February 1870 — 14 September 1908.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A Québec Liberal elected in Lac-Saint-Jean in the 1908 general election, Broët died three months later — before being able to take his seat in the assembly. A decade earlier, he had unsuccessfully run for office in France, where he was buried.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau (39) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 April 1984 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Brosseau is perhaps the most famous successful Canadian paper candidate so far in the 21st century. So certain was she that she would not win in Berthier—Maskinongé in the 2011 federal election, Brosseau, who was 27 at the time, never visited the riding and even went on vacation to Las Vegas midway through the campaign. But that was around the time NDP leader Jack Layton appeared on the popular TV show, Tout le monde en parle, and charmed the people of Québec. On election night, the NDP won 59 of the province's 75 ridings, including Brosseau's. She served two mandates, losing in 2019 and failing to regain her seat in 2021.
George Brown (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 November 1818 — 9 May 1880.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
One of the Fathers of Confederation, Brown sat in the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada before Confederation. Also widely seen as the leader of the federal Liberal Party in 1867, he did not succeed in winning a seat in the new parliament. However, he was appointed to the Senate in December 1873, where he served until his death in May 1880, at the age of 61.
James E. Brown (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 May 1913 — 26 January 1974.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
A federal Liberal from Ontario, Brown placed a motion on the Order Paper in 1955 to urge the government to extend the right to vote to all First Nations Canadians 21 years old and over. In 1967, he introduced a private member's bill that launched the campaign to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. And in 1969, he sponsored another private member's bill that advocated changing the name of Dominion Day to Canada Day.
Janet (Jan) C. Brown (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 June 1947 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Elected MP for Calgary Southeast along with 51 other Reform Party candidates in the 1993 federal election, Brown drew admiration in 1994 when she placed a rose on the empty desk of rival Bloc Québécois and official opposition leader Lucien Bouchard who was fighting for his life as a result of necrotizing fasciitis. Considered a mod­er­ate, she openly spoke out against the right wing of Reform, behaviour which, in May 1996, led her to being suspended from the party along with two controversial members of that right wing. Sitting as an independent for the remainder of the 35th Parliament, she ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Calgary Southwest in the 1997 general election against her former leader, Preston Manning, finishing a distant third.
Jordan Brown (34) years old as of today. This person was born on
14 September 1989 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Although the border between Quebec and Labrador was set in favour of New­found­land by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London in 1927, and was reaffirmed when Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949, Brown, an NDP MHA, still found himself in 2023 criticizing the Bloc Québécois for having a map showing that Quebec had control of Labrador.
Rosemary Brown (72) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 June 1930 — 26 April 2003.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Upon her election for the NDP in Vancouver-Burrard in the 1972 British Columbia general election, Brown became the first Black female MLA in a Canadian legislature.
John E. Brownlee (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 August 1883 — 15 July 1961.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
The political career of the fifth premier of Alberta was destroyed not only by the Great Depression of the 1930s, but also by a sex scandal. Brownlee was sued for the seduction of Vivian MacMillan, which he denied completely, claiming that the lawsuit was the result of a conspiracy between MacMillan, her fiancé, and his opponents in the Liberal Party. The jury at the sensational and well-publicized trial that resulted found in MacMillan's favour. The presiding judge overruled the jury's findings, but MacMillan won again on appeal. Brownlee resigned as premier on July 10, 1934.
J. Callum Bruce (47) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 November 1885 — 26 May 1933.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Less than two years into his second term, the body of Bruce, a Prince Edward Island Liberal, was found floating by the dock at the foot of Queen Street in Char­lotte­town. A coroner's jury deemed his death an accidental drowning.
Rolf W. Bruhn (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 September 1878 — 30 August 1942.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Bruhn's father, Axel Wallgren, was a Crown Reeve in Sweden. Accused of em­bez­zle­ment in 1890, he adopted the surname Bruhn and came to Canada, leaving his family behind. Rolf adopted his father's surname when he joined him in Canada in 1895. He was severely injured in an explosion in 1918, requiring many months of hospitalization and surgeries.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (44) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 July 1979 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Sometimes destiny works in funny ways. Brunelle-Duceppe, MP for Lac-Saint-Jean since 2019 and son of former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, was born on Canada Day (July 1). But Jean Charest, Québec's Liberal premier from 2003 to 2012 and a staunch federalist, was born on Saint Jean Baptiste Day (June 24).
Dianne Brushett (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 October 1942 — 11 July 2017.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Brushett, a Nova Scotia Liberal, ran four times for Parliament but won only once, namely her first time. Each time, her main adversary was the Conservative, Bill Casey.
Thomas Bryson (±55) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 15 January 1826 — 4 January 1882.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Conservative elected to the Québec assembly for Pontiac in December 1881, Bryson never took his seat. He died a month after being elected, at about age 55.
Arthur Bunster (±60) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1831 — 8 October 1891.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Bunster, a Liberal MP from British Columbia, is remembered for his 1878 fist-fight in the House of Commons with Québec Liberal MP Guillaume Cheval dit St-Jacques. After he lost his seat in 1882, he moved to San Francisco, where he entered real estate. He died in 1891 when he drowned in San Francisco Bay.
Martin Burrell (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 October 1858 — 20 March 1938.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Burrell, a Conservative, was badly injured in the fire that destroyed much of the Canadian Parliament on the night of February 3, 1916. He resigned as MP on July 10, 1920, to become librarian for the Library of Parliament, a position he occupied until his death in 1938, aged 79.
W. Bruce Butler (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 August 1883 — 2 September 1952.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
A Prince Edward Island Liberal, Butler served two non-consecutive terms in the assembly (1919 to 1923 and 1927 to 1931). Found dead at the foot of the stairs of his Charlottetown rooming house, bruises and marks on his face and bleeding from his mouth, it was concluded that he fell from the top or part way of the stairway.

C

Charles Cadman (57) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 February 1948 — 9 July 2005.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Reform candidate Chuck Cadman was first elected as MP in 1997 in the British Columbia riding of Surrey North, winning the seat again in 2000 as Alliance. When he failed to win the Conservative nomination in 2004, he ran as an independent and won the seat again. He is remembered for how, while battling cancer in 2005, he helped keep the Liberal minority government in power during critical votes, and that he died in office on July 9 of that year. In the 2006 election, his wife Dona endorsed a family friend to replace him: the NDP's Penny Priddy, who won handily. When Priddy decided not to seek a second term in 2008, Dona, by then reconciled with the Conservatives, won the seat for one term, being defeated in 2011 by the NDP's Jasbir Sandhu.
Frank A. Calder (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 August 1915 — 4 November 2006.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 9
This is a cautionary tale for those who think that their vote doesn't count... Calder, British Columbia CCF/NDP MLA for Atlin for all but one term since 1949, and the first indigenous person to be elected to any legislature in Canada, failed to win the NDP nomination in his riding in 1975, so he crossed to the Social Credit Party and won decisively in the general election that year. Then, the NDP surged in the 1979 election — not enough to form government but enough to make Calder, 63, lose his seat by one vote to Alan Passarell, 29. He and his wife had neglected to vote that year; he would have won by one vote if they had.
Reginald T. Caldwell (53) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 June 1885 — 2 March 1939.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A Nova Scotia Conservative MLA for Kings County from 1925 to 1933, Caldwell died in the Queen Hotel fire in Halifax on March 2, 1939. He was 53 years old.
Delino D. Calvin (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 May 1798 — 18 May 1884.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Born in Vermont, Calvin, who had become a naturalized British citizen in 1845, is said to have never considered himself a Canadian as much as an American doing business in Canada. That said, on one occasion, he was recorded as having told John A. Macdonald, "I can holler for the Queen as loud as you can."
A.J. Patrick Cameron (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 September 1895 — 3 January 1982.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 5
Cameron served nearly 14 years over five non-consecutive mandates as the Liberal MP for High Park. A neighbour discovered the bodies of both Cameron and his wife Beatrice at their Etobicoke apartment on January 3, 1982. Metro Toronto Police indicated they both died early that day of natural causes. Cameron had been out of office for more than 13 years.
Malcolm Cameron (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 April 1808 — 1 June 1876.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
An Ontario Liberal, Cameron lost in Ontario North during the first federal election in 1867; again in Renfrew South in the 1869 by-election, and again in Russell during the 1872 general election. Finally winning the seat for Ontario South in the 1874 general election, he died in office 2 years and 4 months later, at the age of 68.
Coline Campbell (83) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 September 1940 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
Upon becoming the Liberal MP in South Western Nova in the 1974 general election, Campbell was the first woman from Nova Scotia elected to the Canadian Parliament. She would alternately win and lose subsequent elections until her last one in 1988, which she won.
Douglas L. Campbell (99) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 May 1895 — 23 April 1995.
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 12
Liberal Progressive premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958, Campbell holds the record for longest continuous service in the legislature: 46 years, 10 months, and 26 days. Although not a libertarian while in office, he was a lifelong believer in "small government." After retiring from politics in 1969, he was a supporter in the 1980s of the Confederation of Regions Party, and subsequently the Reform Party of Preston Manning.
Stewart Campbell (72) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 May 1812 — 20 February 1885.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Elected as a Nova Scotia Anti-Confederation MP, Campbell crossed the floor of Parliament to join the Liberal-Conservative Party when his party began to collapse in September 1868, making him perhaps the first MP to cross in the history of the modern Canadian Parliament. Historians believe it was probably his support for the Conservative government that provoked an Antigonish crowd to pelt him with eggs at a social occasion that month.
E. Jean Canfield (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 October 1919 — 31 December 2000.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
Upon becoming a Liberal MLA in Queens 1st in the 1970 general election, Canfield was the first woman elected to the Prince Edward Island legislature.
Serge Cardin (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
2 July 1950 — .
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 6
A Québec sovereignist from Sherbrooke, Cardin was defeated in 2011 by the youngest person to be elected to the Canadian Parliament, the New Democrat Pierre-Luc Dusseault. But his revenge came a year later when he unseated the Liberal premier, Jean Charest.
Isaac Carling (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 April 1825 — 29 August 1895.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
An Ontario Conservative, Carling was the son of Thomas Carling, the founder of the brewing company bearing the family name. He sat as the MPP for Huron South for only two years between 1868 and 1871, never winning a seat competitively. However, his brother John had a much longer political career both federally and provincially.
Richard J. Cartwright (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 December 1835 — 24 September 1912.
Times presented: 13;   Times elected: 11
Elected in the Province of Canada's legislative assembly prior to Confederation, Cartwright was considered a progressive in his time. A free trader, he stood against the Conservatives' high-tariff policy, to the point of defecting to the Liberals in 1869 for the remainder of his political career. He also favoured proportional representation through Single Transferable Voting.
William D. Casey (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 February 1945 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Occasionally, the candidate matters more to constituents than the party, and Casey is evidence of that: he was elected to Parliament four different ways — Progressive Conservative (1988, 1997, 2000), Conservative (2004, 2006), independent (2008), and Liberal (2015).
Frederick M. Cass (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 August 1913 — 25 November 2000.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
During his time as speaker in the Ontario legislature (1968-1971), Cass ruled that opposition members could not begin their questions with "why" during Question Period, as such questions were "usually not aimed at soliciting information from cabinet ministers, but at giving the questioner an opening to catalogue his complaints about the government."
Cora T. Casselman (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 October 1888 — 6 September 1964.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
The Liberal candidate in the 1941 by-election in Edmonton East, Casselman was the first woman from Alberta elected to the Canadian Parliament, replacing her husband who had died three months earlier.
Joseph-Édouard Cauchon (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
31 December 1816 — 23 February 1885.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
Cauchon is among those who held two seats — one provincially and one federally — in 1867 and from 1872 to 1874, relinquishing his provincial seat in 1874 when the "double mandate" was abolished. He always sat as a Conservative in Québec City, but in Ottawa he sat as a Con­ser­va­tive, an Independent Conservative, an Independent and ultimately a Liberal, serving as minister of Inland Revenue for four months until his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba in October 1877. Estimated to have made as much as $1,000,000 by 1882 in market speculation, he was ruined that year when the market crashed.
Kateri Champagne Jourdain . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
When Champagne Jourdain won in Duplessis in 2022, she became the first indigenous woman elected in the Québec National Assembly.
William N. Chant (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 July 1895 — 25 September 1976.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Chant served only one term in the first Social Credit government in Alberta. He joined the dissidents from his party who were upset with the premier, William Aberhart, for failing to provide Albertans with a $25 monthly dividend through social credit as had been promised in the 1935 election campaign, and sat as an independent from 1937. He was more successful in SoCred politics after moving to British Columbia, serving six terms from 1953 to 1971 as an MLA for Victoria and choosing to retire from politics at the age of 77.
Jean J. Charest (65) years old as of today. This person was born on
24 June 1958 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 8
A staunch federalist but admittedly proud Québécois, the former premier (2003–2012) was born on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Québec's national holiday.
Nancy Charest (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 November 1959 — 1 March 2014.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Charest was the Liberal MNA for Matane in the National Assembly of Quebec from 2003 to 2007. In 2014, aged 54 and almost seven years after losing her seat, she was found dead of hypothermia and heavily intoxicated along Highway 195.
Gilbert Chartrand (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 November 1954 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
In April 2005, long after leaving politics, Chartrand and his wife were convicted of fraud and conspiracy against their boss and were sentenced to 18-month prison terms.
David C. Chatters (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 April 1946 — 25 January 2016.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
A Conservative first elected during the Reform/Canadian Alliance era, Chatters asserted in May 1996 that schools should have the right to fire openly gay teachers. That position led him to be suspended from the Reform caucus until September. (Big punishment!)
Gulzar S. Cheema (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
11 August 1954 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
A Liberal, Cheema was successful in getting elected as a Manitoba MLA at age 33 (1988–1993) and as a British Columbia MLA at age 46 (2001–2004), but he failed to enter the House of Commons in 2004 at age 49, or to return to the British Columbia legislature in 2020 at age 66.
Paul Chin-Yue Chiang (±64) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1960 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Born in Pakistan but from Chinese heritage, Chiang, a Liberal MP since 2021, speaks English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, and Hakka.
Raymond S.J. Cho (87) years old as of today. This person was born on
18 November 1936 — .
In office.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
At age 79, Cho was by far the oldest person on first election to a Canadian provincial legislature. But it should be noted that he had been a municipal councillor in Toronto for the previous 25 years.
Mike Chornohus (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 March 1888 — 17 February 1966.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
When Chornohus tried to run in the 1921 general election in the riding of Whitford under the United Farmers of Alberta banner, his nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer who claimed that Chornohus had signed his name with a "Z" rather than a "S." The UFA took the matter to court and won, so the Liberal incumbent, Andrew Shandro, was unseated and then defeated in the resulting by-election. The court had found that the rejection was purely partisan and that the returning officer and Shandro were related.
Frank C. Christian (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 April 1911 — 26 July 1988.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
In 1957, Christian was narrowly elected as the MP for Okanagan Boundary. At the end of his single term, he stated that he would not seek re-election in the 1958 election due to the need to spend six or seven months a year from his family while in Parliament. However, given the magnitude of the Progressive Conservative landslide that year, he probably would have been defeated. He died 30 years after leaving politics.
Robert Christie (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 June 1826 — 9 March 1914.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
An Ontario Liberal, Christie died 39 years after his failed attempt to win a third mandate, which made him the last surviving member of the first Ontario legislature at the time of his death.
Giuseppe (Joe) Cimino (±55) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1969 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Cimino resigned on November 20, 2014, only five months after narrowly winning the Ontario seat of Sudbury for the NDP, citing the strain of being an MPP on his health as well as on his family.
John E. Clark (41) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 March 1915 — 3 June 1956.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Clark was the Alberta Social Credit MLA for Stettler from 1952 to 1956. He committed one of the deadliest mass murders in Alberta history and then killed himself.
F. Nelson Clarke (±67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
31 December 1914 — c. 1982.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 0
When Clarke, a communist, took his Saskatoon councillor's seat in January 1942, he was the city's youngest known councillor. Although he was elected for a two-year term, he resigned at the end of 1942 to enlist. Relocating to Toronto in later life with his wife Phyllis, he became an advocate of tenant’s rights in that city.
Joseph A. Clarke (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 September 1869 — 27 July 1941.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 0
Clarke was the fifteenth mayor of Edmonton. An accomplished athlete, he also had penchant for violence and was accused of involvement in prostitution and gambling rings, which hampered his political career. To wit, he ran but failed nine times to win a seat federally or provincially.
William H. Clarke (90) years old as of today. This person was born on
5 July 1933 — .
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 4
Despite holding his seat since 1972, Clarke is one of the rare Pro­gres­sive Con­ser­va­tives who did not win in that party's landslide victory in 1984. Many doubted that he would succeed, but the then-leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, John Turner, managed to put an end to Clarke's political career. Five unsuccessful re-election bids followed — three for his federal seat and two for a seat in the British Columbia legislature — his last one when he was 79 years old.
George Clayes (±57) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1831 — 3 March 1888.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Clayes, a Québec Liberal from Missisquoi, did not win the riding provincially in 1871, nor federally in 1878 or 1882. He died in office at the age of 57, one year after winning it in the 1887 federal general election.
Bernard Cleary (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 May 1937 — 27 July 2020.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Bloc Québécois candidate in Louis-Saint-Laurent in the 2004 general election, Cleary was the first indigenous person from Quebec elected to the Canadian Parliament. He lost his seat in the following election to his 2004 Conservative rival, Josée Verner.
Hector D. Clouthier (74) years old as of today. This person was born on
18 October 1949 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 1
Serving a single term as the Liberal MP for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, Clouthier is known for wearing a fedora, and for his election slogan, "Give 'em Hec." He met U.S. President George W. Bush in Detroit at a border conference in 2002, and the president was smitten by his fedora, so he had one made and sent it to the White House. An avid marathoner, he has completed nearly 50 of them, and qualified for the Boston Marathon for the nineth time, at age 75.
Maxine E. Cochran (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 August 1926 — 8 July 2014.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
First elected in a June 1984 by-election in Lunenburg Centre following the death of her husband Bruce, Cochran, a Progressive Conservative, was the first woman cabinet minister in Nova Scotia.
E. Shaughnessy Cohen (50) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 February 1948 — 9 December 1998.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Cohen is the first (and so far only) MP ever to suffer a fatal health incident in the House of Commons.
George Coles (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 September 1810 — 21 August 1875.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
Coles was the first premier of Prince Edward Island. An initial supporter of Con­fed­e­ra­tion as long as it would guarantee the liquidation of leasehold tenure, he turned against it after the 1864 Québec conference when the Canadians answered that the Islanders were already promised more than their fair share of financial subsidies. Coles is said to have been hit with early senility in his third term as premier and chose to resign in August 1868. Historians today are divided as to whether he had become senile, insane, or simply depressed.
Roger Coles (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 September 1958 — 28 June 2013.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Leader of the Yukon Liberal Party, Coles had to resign his seat in the legislature after he pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking, and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Paul Comtois (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 August 1895 — 21 February 1966.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Comtois died while serving as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, when a fire destroyed his official residence. Once he had his family taken to safety outside, he returned to the flames to save the Blessed Sacrament from the private chapel. His body was found burnt, still holding the ciborium with the hosts.
Lionel P. Conacher (52) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 May 1902 — 26 May 1954.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
Liberal MP for Trinity and athlete, Conacher died during a softball game between members of Parliament and the Press Gallery on the lawn of Parliament Hill. He was only 52 years old.
Maurice J. Conner (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 November 1868 — 9 May 1937.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
In 1928, Conner, a United Farmers of Alberta MLA, abstained from voting on the Sexual Sterilization Act, making him the only government member present not to support the bill. This eugenics-based act was repealed only in 1972.
J. Wayne Connors (88) years old as of today. This person was born on
30 January 1936 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A Nova Scotia Liberal, Connors served only five months in the legislature, resigning for health reasons in February 1989. As of 2024, he is still alive.
Roland (Rollie) D.B. Cook (72) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 March 1952 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Cook was a two-term Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA from 1979 to 1986. However, when he would work for campaigns in the United States, it would be for Democrats like Congressman Morris Udall and former president Jimmy Carter. That leads us to wonder if the Republicans were simply too conservative for his taste, or if the Democrats, once transposed back to the Canadian spectrum, were a bit like the equivalent of our "Red Tories" of that era.
J. Robert Cooke (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 September 1866 — 13 August 1934.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
An Ontario Conservative MPP, Cooke died of injuries sustained in a car accident caused by his having a heart attack while driving, two weeks short of his 68th birthday. He had left politics less than two months earlier.
Randy E. Cooke (62) years old as of today. This person was born on
4 July 1961 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Cooke ended up living up to his given name. The Prince Edward Island Liberal resigned his seat after admitting that he had billed phone-sex calls to his legislature calling card.
M. Dominic (Maxime) Cormier (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 December 1878 — 14 January 1933.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Defeated in Victoria in the 1911 federal general election and provincially in Madawaska in 1912 and 1925, the New Brunswick Conservative succeeded in being elected as the MP for Restigouche—Madawaska in 1930, but died in office 2 years and 5 months later at the age of 54. His successor was a future Liberal minister, Joseph-Enoil Michaud.
Alexandre Cormier-Denis (39) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 August 1984 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
A notorious xenophobe, Cormier-Denis's election sign during the 2017 by-election in Gouin bore the slogan "Choose your Quebec" and contrasted two images of Kelly Betesh, a French activist from the National Front, one showing her wearing a blue tuque with a fleur-de-lis pin and the other wearing a black niqab. The posters were removed by the police following complaints, then reinstalled. It is in this by-election that Québec solidaire's Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois made his entry to the National Assembly.
Estefan Cortes-Vargas (±33) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1991 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Elected for one term as the Alberta NDP MLA for Strathcona-Sherwood Park in the 2015 general election, Cortes-Vargas was the first person in any Canadian legislature to have come out as non-binary. They did not re-offer in 2019 but they are the reason why PoliCan now explicity identifies and tracks persons who identify as such.
Henri Courtemanche (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 August 1916 — 19 March 1986.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Courtemanche, a Quebec Progressive Conservative MP in the 1950s, was appointed to the Senate in January 1960. However, he resigned less than two years later when a former Montreal hospital administrator alleged that he was paid a 10% kickback — totalling over $60,000 — on all government grants made to the hospital in the mid-1950s, and an investigation into his activities found him unworthy of public office.
Walter D. Cowan (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
31 December 1865 — 28 September 1934.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
During his second mandate as a Conservative MP (Long Lake, 1930–1934), Cowan was the provincial treasurer of the Saskatchewan chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. He died in office at the age of 68.
John Coyne (37) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 July 1836 — 16 November 1873.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
An Ontario Conservative, Coyne was elected twice to the legislature, each time with 1,118 votes. He died midway through his second term.
Adam Crooks (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 December 1827 — 28 December 1885.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
The political career of this Ontario Liberal MPP ended in 1884 when he was declared "incurably insane."
John C. Crosbie (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 January 1931 — 10 January 2020.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
The Crosbie family name is now associated to the Progressive Conservative Party in Newfoundland, but when John C. was first elected to the House of Assembly for St John's West in 1966, it was as a Liberal and he sat as such for three years. John won in every election in which he ran, which is something his son Chesley cannot claim for himself.

D

John R. Dahmer (51) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 September 1937 — 26 November 1988.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Less than a month before federal election day in 1988, Dahmer, a Progressive Conservative from Alberta, was admitted to hospital with symptoms that resembled adult onset type two diabetes. However, it turned out to be advanced pancreatic cancer. Given that he died five days after being elected, he holds the record of the shortest term for a Canadian MP.
Hans W. Daigeler (50) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 February 1945 — 9 November 1995.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 2
Daigeler, the Ontario Liberal MPP for Nepean from 1987 to 1995, committed suicide five months after his electoral defeat. He was 50 years old.
Raoul Dandurand (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 November 1861 — 11 March 1942.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
Dandurand was the senator for the division of De Lorimier. He was called to the Senate in 1898 by Wilfrid Laurier and never ran for office, yet he was an influential minister without portfolio in three cabinets of Mackenzie King until his death at the age of 80.
J.G. True Davidson (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 April 1901 — 18 September 1978.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
Davidson joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1934 after meeting J.S. Woodsworth, about whom she said, "He had a burning fire of love for people. You could warm your hands in his personality." She ran twice for the CCF — once federally and once provincially — but left the party after it merged with the Canadian Labour Congress to form the NDP, and ran for the Ontario Liberals in 1971. Reflecting at that time on her runs for the CCF, she said, "I don't know why I ran. I had no thought of winning."
Libby Davies (71) years old as of today. This person was born on
27 February 1953 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Davies was the NDP MP for Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015. She had had a 24-year relationship with Bruce Eriksen until he died of cancer in 1997. In 2001, she was the first female MP to reveal that she was in a same-sex relationship. During the 2005 debate on same-sex marriage in Canada, Conservative MP Jason Kenney cited her prior relationship with Eriksen as proof that marriage law does not discriminate against LGBT individuals since a gay person can marry a member of the opposite sex. Joining other commentators, Davies, who had never been formally married to Eriksen, criticized Kenney for playing politics with other parliamentarians' personal lives.
William G. Davis (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 July 1929 — 8 August 2021.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
Davis used the phrase "Bland works" to describe the success of his style of Progressive Conservative government in Ontario.
Earl P. Dawson (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 December 1925 — 28 March 1987.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Can you make any sense of what this Manitoba Liberal said? Shortly after his election to the legislature in 1966, Dawson was quoted in the Hansard as saying, "I believe that at 18 years of age a young person is twice as clever as any person in this House was at 18, when he was 18."
Peter Dawson (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 April 1892 — 24 March 1963.
Died in office.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
Dawson, the Social Credit member for Little Bow from 1935 to his sudden death in 1963, served most of his tenure as Speaker — 26 years — the longest in the history of the Alberta legislature. His successor was someone named Speaker, who was never speaker.
Simon J. Dawson (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 June 1818 — 30 October 1902.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Dawson sat for the Liberal Party of Ontario while he was an MPP from 1875 to 1878. Federally, while nominally an independent member until 1887, he supported the Conservative Party of Canada. He was also anomalous in that he was a Catholic Scot — most Scots being Presbyterian — and advocated that what is today northern Ontario be made a separate territory, as well as for bilingualism in the territories and fishing rights for First Nations peoples. He died in Ottawa in 1902, in relative obscurity.
Roland De Corneille (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 May 1927 — 30 December 2014.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
De Corneille, an Anglican priest and eventual Ontario Liberal MP, is credited as the first Canadian clergyman to urge the Christian community to re-evaluate its attitude towards Jews. As a result of his efforts, the Anglican Church renounced pro­sel­y­ti­za­tion of Jews in favour of under­standing, dialogue and reconciliation.
Amor De Cosmos (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 August 1825 — 4 July 1897.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
The second premier of British Columbia was known for being eccentric. Born William Alexander Smith, he would go on to sit as the MP for Victoria until his defeat in 1882. He was declared insane two years before his death.
Jason E. Dearborn . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Dearborn, the two-term Saskatchewan Party MLA for Kindersley from 2002 to 2007, was a charming fellow when he was in office. In February 2005, he "nominated" then-premier Lorne Calvert to be shot for implementing a controversial plan for restructuring school divisions.
Georges-Ervé Denault (40) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 July 1882 — 7 February 1923.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Denault, the Québec Liberal Party candidate in Richmond in 1923, died two days after being elected. Thus, he never took his seat in the assembly.
Azellus Denis (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 March 1907 — 4 September 1991.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
Denis served as a Liberal MP for 28 years, 3 months and 12 days. But combining his time serving in the Senate, he is the longest serving parliamentarian in Canadian history: 55 years, 10 months and 22 days. He died as a senator at the age of 84. A career politician for sure!
Caroline Desbiens (±61) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1963 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
During the 2019 federal election campaign, it was found that Desbiens, running for the Bloc Québécois, had written on Facebook in 2013 in favour of the proposed Charter of Québec Values to avoid that "Our daugh­ters, grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters could have to wear a veil to go to the IGA for fear of going to prison in a few years." It was also found that in 2016, she had praised far-right French politician Marine Le Pen. She was forced to apologize for these comments during the campaign, and was elected.
Pierre Descoteaux (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 February 1952 — 9 April 2018.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Elected for one term in 2003 as a Québec Liberal, Descoteaux admitted having voted Yes in the 1995 Québec referendum on sovereignty.
Martine Desjardins (42) years old as of today. This person was born on
4 September 1981 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Desjardins was one of the three spokespersons during the 2011 student protests in Québec that have been dubbed le printemps érable, along with Léo Bureau-Blouin and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. But of the three, she is the only one who did not later get elected to the National Assembly.
Beverly F. Desjarlais (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 August 1955 — 15 March 2018.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Desjarlais was the only member of the NDP caucus to vote against the federal Civil Marriage Act in 2005, arguing that her position was based on personal religious convictions, not homophobia.
Blake B. Desjarlais (30) years old as of today. This person was born on
29 December 1993 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
When Desjarlais won the Alberta seat of Edmonton Griesbach for the NDP in the 2021 general election, he became the first openly two-spirit individual to serve as an MP.
Hospice Desrosiers (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 June 1863 — 20 April 1935.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A Québec Conservative, Desrosiers was elected in Châteauguay in the general election held in June 1908. However, his election was contested on November 13 and he lost the resulting by-election to Honoré Mercier Jr. Defeated again by Mercier in the 1912 general election, he never got to sit in the legislative assembly.
Georges-Casimir Dessaulles (102) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 September 1827 — 19 April 1930.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Canadian senators were initially appointed for life, but the mandatory age of re­tire­ment was set to 75 in 1965, although those who were sitting when the rule was changed could choose to retire or not. Well before that, in 1902, Dessaulles was called to the Senate six months before turning 80. He lasted a surprising 23 years, dying in office in 1930, at the age of 102.
D. Grant Devine (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
5 July 1944 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
Devine was the only Progressive Conservative premier in Sas­kat­che­wan's history. Although he was never implicated in any criminal wrong­doing, his reputation was ruined within the new federal Con­ser­va­tive Party when it formed in the early 2000s and he was deemed an undesirable candidate, the result of a number of his former MLAs and staffers having been found guilty of expense account fraud committed during his second term as premier.
Mabel M. DeWare (96) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 August 1926 — 17 August 2022.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
After visiting a mine in northern New Brunswick early in her tenure as Minister of Labour, DeWare was questioned on what she could possibly know about "labour." Not missing a beat, she retorted to the assembly of men, "I know more about labour than any of you ever will! A woman in labour always delivers!"
Paul W. Dick (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 October 1940 — 2 May 2018.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
After 20 years as an Ontario Progressive Conservative MP, Dick found that his political experience counted for little in job interviews after his defeat in 1993. He eventually found entry-level work at a stock brokerage firm, gradually becoming successful and earning a six-figure salary.
Merle E. Dickerson (±73) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1911 — 9 June 1984.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
While running (unsuccessfully) for the federal seat of Nipissing in 1949 as the CCF candidate, Dickerson was found guilty of using his position as chair of North Bay's hydroelectricity commission to illegally tap into power lines to power rental housing that he owned without paying for it, although the conviction was overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court of Ontario. In the 1970s, he failed twice to enter the Ontario assembly as a Progressive Conservative.
Paul D. Dicks (±74) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1950 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
In 2007, six years after leaving politics as a Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal MHA, Dicks promised to repay money spent on personal items (including fine wines and artwork) using constituency allowance funds during his time as an MHA, after he was criticized in a report by the provincial auditor general.
John G. Diefenbaker (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 September 1895 — 16 August 1979.
Died in office.
Times presented: 17;   Times elected: 13
Diefenbaker lived to see the return of the Progressive Conservatives to the government benches but died three months later at the age of 83. His successor in the Saskatchewan riding of Prince Albert was, ironically, Stanley Hovdebo of the NDP who Diefenbaker had soundly defeated the previous spring.
James G. Dinn (±64) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1960 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Since the 49th assembly, Dinn has been sitting in the opposition benches in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as the New Democratic Party MHA for St John's Centre, while his brother Paul has also been sitting in the opposition... as the Progressive Conservative MHA for Topsail—Paradise.
Stéphane M. Dion (68) years old as of today. This person was born on
28 September 1955 — .
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 8
Setting aside interim leaders, Dion was the first leader of the Liberal Party of Canada not to serve as prime minister since Edward Blake, who had led the party from 1880 to 1887. His successor, Michael Ignatieff, was the second.
Gordon E. Dirks (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 June 1947 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Dirks served two terms as a Progressive Conservative MLA, but one was in Saskatchewan for 4 years and almost 6 months (1982–1986), and the other was in Alberta for 6 months (2014–2015).
Russell J. Doern (51) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 October 1935 — 19 February 1987.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
Doern left the NDP to sit as an independent MLA on March 7, 1984, due to his opposition to his government's efforts to legally entrench French-language services in Manitoba. Used to winning with comfortable margins, he was defeated in Elmwood in the 1986 general election. He committed suicide less than a year later, by all accounts distraught by the fact that he had little chance of returning to political life.
Dugald Donaghy (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 September 1873 — 17 October 1963.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
As city solicitor for North Vancouver in the 1930s, Donaghy prosecuted a man who had become the chief target of his "war on crime," notably for procuring girls for prostitution and running a disorderly house. He was particularly offended by the fact that the brothel was frequented by Chinese men, telling the court, "There are no words in the English language to describe the abhorrence of white prostitutes being procured exclusively for the yellow men from China," and was aghast "that these girls should be submitted to crawling yellow beasts of the type frequenting such dives."
Fin Donnelly (57) years old as of today. This person was born on
27 May 1966 — .
In office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
A New Democrat MP from 2009 to 2019 and British Columbia MLA since 2020, Donnelly swam competitively for 16 years at the college level and completed 14 marathon swims between 1990 and 2000. In 1995 and 2000, he notably swam the 1,325 km of the Fraser River from Mount Robson Provincial Park to False Creek Bay in Vancouver.
Catherine Dorion (41) years old as of today. This person was born on
30 September 1982 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Québec solidaire MNA (2018–2022), Dorion was banned from the Blue Room on 8 November 2019 for dress code violations that have included t-shirts, Doc Martens shoes, and an orange hoodie.
George H. Doucett (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 May 1897 — 1 May 1974.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 10
After six successful runs provincially and four successful runs federally as an Ontario conservative, Doucett decided not to run again in 1965. Instead, at age 68, the lifelong bachelor married Mona Middleton, who was 60.
James W. Douglas (32) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 June 1851 — 7 November 1883.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Douglas's grandmother was a "free woman of colour" of British Guiyana while his mother Amelia was Anglo-Métis. No big deal today, but at the end of the 19th century?
Thomas C. Douglas (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 October 1904 — 24 February 1986.
Times presented: 16;   Times elected: 13
Douglas is remembered as the "Father of Medicare." While he was federal NDP leader, he lost his Burnaby—Seymour seat by only 138 votes in the 1968 general election. He was able to return to Parliament through a by-election necessitated in Nanaimo—Cowichan—The Islands in February of the following year because of the sudden death of Colin Cameron one month after the general election. Like many Pro­gres­sives / early CCF members, Douglas endorsed eugenics — his 1933 MA thesis was on that topic — but, like most of the others, he reversed his position and advocated instead for vocational training for the mentally handicapped and therapy for those suffering from mental disorders.
Joseph P. Downey (±60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 January 1865 — c. 1926.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
How times and wordings have changed! When Downey, an Ontario Conservative, resigned as the MPP for Wellington South, it was because he had been appointed superintendent for the Ontario Asylum for Idiots.
Jean Drapeau (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 February 1916 — 12 August 1999.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Well before his first election in 1957 as mayor of Montréal, Drapeau was twice a candidate for the Bloc populaire canadien: once federally in the 1942 by-election in Outremont, and once provincially in the 1944 Québec general election in Montréal—Jeanne-Mance. His second term as mayor of Montréal ran from October 24, 1960 to November 9, 1986.
Lucien Dubuc (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 November 1877 — 5 March 1956.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
Dubuc's election in Peace River in the 1905 Alberta general election was overturned by the provincial cabinet due to significant irregularities, and even going so far as to question whether the vote was held at all. Dubuc took the matter to court to force the executive council to recognize the results and prevent the calling of a new election, but his legal action failed. He chose not to run again but his challenger, James Cornwall, did — but Cornwall lost to Thomas Brick.
Gilles Duceppe (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 July 1947 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Duceppe is technically the first Bloc Québécois candidate to be elected. He ran in the August 1990 by-election in Laurier—Sainte-Marie following the sudden death of the riding's Liberal MP, Jean-Claude Malépart, but he did so as an independent because the Bloc had not yet been registered with Elections Canada.
Simeon Duck (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 December 1834 — 5 February 1905.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 4
In the 1882 British Columbia general election, Duck won one of the four seats for Victoria City with a plurality of 47 votes. In a ministerial by-election that followed in 1885, he won in a two-person race with a plurality of only 7 votes. But in the general election the next year, he lost his seat by only 7 votes.
Patricia Duncan (63) years old as of today. This person was born on
8 April 1960 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
A Liberal, Duncan was the first woman to become premier of the Yukon (2000–2002). Her call of a snap election two years before necessary resulted in her government's defeat at the polls; she was the only Liberal elected. She has been a senator since December 2018.
James Dunsmuir (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 July 1851 — 6 June 1920.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
If you happen to hate unions, then the Premier of British Columbia from 1900 to 1902 might be your hero. Operating several coal mines in the province, he voiced his opposition to the labour mouvement to a royal commission: "I object to all unions... They simply take the management of the mine... I want the management of my own works, and if I recognize the union, I cannot have that." It should be noted that the mines of British Columbia were among the most dangerous in the world at that time. Between 1889 and 1908 in British Columbia, twenty-three men were killed in the production of every million tons of coal, while the average for North America as a whole was six deaths per million tons.
Maurice L.N. Duplessis (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 April 1890 — 7 September 1959.
Died in office.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 9
Remembered by some as a great leader and by others for "La Grande Noirceur" (The Great Darkness), Duplessis served as Québec's premier for 18 years and 82 days — although not consecutively — and he remains to this day the person who has occupied that position the longest.
Louisette Dussault (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 June 1940 — 14 March 2023.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
The actor French-speaking children of the 1970s remember as la souris verte ran for the Rhinoceros Party in the riding of Sainte-Marie in the 1972 federal election.
Roland Dussault (83) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 November 1940 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
After his decisive defeat seeking a third mandate as the Parti Québécois MNA for Châteauguay, Dussault held various positions within the Raelian Movement from 1987 to 2005.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault (32) years old as of today. This person was born on
31 May 1991 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Québec New Democrat Dusseault was only 19 years old when he won the riding of Sherbrooke in 2011, making him the youngest member of Parliament in Canadian history.
Shirley T. Dysart (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 February 1928 — 14 December 2016.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Upon her first election in Saint John North in 1974, Dysart was the first Liberal woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick. Moreover, she was the first woman speaker.

E

David R.P. Eby (47) years old as of today. This person was born on
21 July 1976 — .
In office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
In a 2011 by-election, Eby lost against Liberal Christy Clark as she returned to the British Columbia legislature as premier. He defeated her in the 2013 general election that followed and, nine years later, he became NDP premier.
Charles B. Edie (±46) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1842 — 8 February 1888.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Winning the August 1882 by-election in Springfield, Edie, a Manitoba Conservative, never got to take his seat: John Bell defeated him in the January 1883 general election.
L.-Phillip (Phil) Edmonston (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 May 1944 — 2 December 2022.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Founder of the Automobile Protection Association in 1968, the American-born Edmonston was one of the first NDP MP elected from Québec. His work with the APA led to the Lemon-Aid series of car manuals, issued annually since the 1970s.
Dale Eftoda (±75) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1949 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Liberal MLA for Riverdale North from 2000 to 2002, Eftoda was the first openly gay member of the Yukon legislature.
D. Wayne Elhard (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 August 1947 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
In the June 1999 by-election in Cypress Hills, Elhard was the first to be elected under the Saskatchewan Party banner.
Frederick W. Elliott (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 August 1873 — 26 November 1933.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
The Ontario Liberal Elliott was elected in 1929 instead of another Liberal, Alexander Mewhinney, who had died on the campaign trail the day before the election. How­ever, Elliott also died in office toward the end of his first mandate.
Arthur Ellis (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 February 1890 — 19 October 1964.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
In November 1935, Ellis, an Ontario Conservative MPP, struck and killed a pedestrian on a highway north of Kingston, and was charged with criminal negligence. Although he was acquitted the next year, the notoriety of the incident ruined his chances of becoming party leader a few months later. Then, in 1940, while no longer an MPP, he was charged after hitting a traffic cop's motorcycle and a parked car following a chase. An open bottle of wine was found in the front seat of his car; he was convicted of driving while drunk and sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Henry R. Emmerson (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 September 1853 — 9 July 1914.
Died in office.
Times presented: 13;   Times elected: 10
The Liberal Emmerson was the 9th Premier of New Brunswick from October 1897 to August 1900, at which time he resigned to be elected the federal MP for West­mor­land. His alcoholism and reputation as a womanizer hampered his career; he was forced to resign from Laurier's cabinet in 1907, after a newspaper reported that he had been thrown out of a Montreal hotel with "two women of ill repute."
William End (±74) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1798 — 14 December 1872.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
End died in a fire in his office in Bathurst, New Brunswick, likely assassinated by a man whom he had sentenced to time in jail. He was no longer an MLA at the time of his death. He had been an MLA for Gloucester from 1830 to 1850 (10th to 14th assemblies), 1854 to 1856 (16th assembly), and 1857 to 1861 (18th assembly).
John R. English (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 January 1945 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Liberal MP from Ontario, English was the official biographer of two prime ministers: Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.
William K. Esling (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 February 1868 — 2 December 1946.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Esling was the Conservative MP for Kootenay West from 1925 to 1945, and he held the distinction of being the only blind member during his tenure in the House.

F

Samuel Factor (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 October 1892 — 21 August 1962.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
After being a Toronto-area Liberal MP from 1930 to 1945, Factor was appointed judge. Today, he is considered ahead of his time with regards to illicit drugs. He believed that drug dealers should be treated harshly by the law. But he also believed that drug addicts should be viewed as people with an illness rather than criminals, and pleaded with the federal government to change the law so that the court could send them to hospital for treatment rather than to prison.
Ellen Louks Fairclough (99) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 January 1905 — 13 November 2004.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
In the absence of John Diefenbaker, Fairclough was the acting prime minister from February 19 to 20, 1958, the first woman given this duty. She was one of very few Canadians to have the title of Right Honourable without having been prime minister, governor general or chief justice.
Alphonsus (Fonse) Faour (72) years old as of today. This person was born on
16 November 1951 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Faour was elected the first NDP MP from Newfoundland in a 1978 by-election in Humber—Port au Port—St Barbe and re-elected in 1979 in the general election, but was defeated in 1980 by Brian Tobin, a Liberal. Appointed to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003, he was the judge named to the 2022 federal electoral district redistribution commission for that province.
Guillaume-André Fauteux (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 October 1874 — 10 September 1940.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 0
A Québec Conservative, Fauteux tried and failed six times to get elected to Parlia­ment. Still, he was Solicitor General of Canada twice — from October 1 to December 28, 1921, and from August 23 to September 24, 1926. This mediocrity merited him to be named to the Senate in December 1933. (Indeed, the webmaster of PoliCan is clearly not a fan of the Senate.)
Henry F. Feehan (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 July 1852 — 25 December 1933.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A Prince Edward Island Conservative and bachelor, Feehan was quoted as saying, "Well those that would have me, I wouldn't have and those I would have, wouldn't have me."
Peter Fenwick (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
18 July 1944 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 2
Fenwick went from being the leader of the Newfoundland NDP for much of the 1980s and being the MHA for Menihek from 1984 to 1989, to running for the Canadian (Reform Conservative) Alliance in the riding of Burin—St George's during the 2000 federal election.
Robert Ferguson (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 August 1832 — 7 September 1901.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Up until the late 20th century, parliamentarians dying while still representing a riding happened far more frequently than it does today. To illustrate the extent: Ferguson, an Ontario Liberal, became the MPP for Kent East after Daniel McCraney had died. Sixteen years later, in his fifth mandate, Ferguson was the one who died, and was replaced by another Liberal, John Lee.
William G. Ferguson (57) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 February 1954 — 22 July 2011.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Ferguson was the male child of a set of fraternal triplets along with two sisters. The Ontario New Democrat served in single term during the Rae government, but ended it early to run for mayor of Kitchener — without success. He is said to have struggled with alcoholism in later life, which escalated shortly after the death of his son.
Adam J. Fergusson Blair (52) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 November 1815 — 30 December 1867.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
Born Adam Johnston Fergusson, the Liberal senator representing Ontario added Blair to his surname in 1862 in order to inherit the Blair estate in Scotland after the death of his older brother, Neil James Fergusson Blair.
Taras D. Ferley (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 October 1882 — 27 July 1947.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Elected in Gimli in 1915, Ferley was the first Ukrainian Canadian to sit in the Manitoba legislature.
Muhammad Fiaz . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Born in Pakistan, Fiaz is the first Muslim elected to the Saskatchewan legislature (Regina Pasqua, 2016– ).
Clarence M. Fines (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 August 1905 — 27 October 1993.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Fines was Saskatchewan's first "socialist" finance minister. When the CCF took power in 1944, the debt was 38% of the province's GDP, or $218 million (or close to 3.8 billion in 2024 dollars). His first budgets were balanced while increasing social spending, and once Saskatchewan became debt-free in 1953, his budgets had surpluses. Yet, to this day, Conservatives or Liberals are thought of as the "sound managers" of the public purse.
Beatrice (Bea) A. Firth (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 January 1946 — 20 June 2008.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
In 1991, along with Alan Nordling, Firth did not agree with the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party being renamed the Yukon Party, so they left the caucus and sat as independent MLAs. Both ran as such and won in the 1992 general election, although unofficially they referred to themselves as the Independent Alliance Party. By the 1996 general election, Nordling had accepted the name change and ran under that banner, but lost. Firth, on the other hand, had still not accepted the change and declined to run.
Frances L. Fish (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 December 1888 — 27 October 1975.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Fish was the first woman to run for office in New Brunswick. In summer 1935, she ran for the Conservatives provincially and, in the fall, for the Reconstruction Party federally.
Charles W. Fisher (52) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 August 1866 — 5 May 1919.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 changed our world. The previous global pandemic a century before cost the life of Fisher, an Alberta Liberal.
Douglas M. Fisher (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 September 1919 — 18 September 2009.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Fisher was the CCF MP for Port Arthur from 1957 to 1965. Nearly 44 years after the end of his last term, he died one day short of his 90th birthday. He was one of the very few CCF members elected during the Diefenbaker era, and he opposed his party's rebranding to the NDP. However, when it was a fait accompli, he ran and won twice under that new banner.
Gordon H. Fitzgerald (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 January 1927 — 1 May 2014.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
A Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MLA for 10 years, Fitzgerald was 43 years old when he tried but failed to get a fourth mandate. He lived 43 years after leaving the legislature.
Steven J. Fletcher (51) years old as of today. This person was born on
17 June 1972 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
Manitoba Conservative MP for Charleswood—St James—Assiniboia from 2004 to 2015, Fletcher was the first quadriplegic and wheelchair user to serve in the House of Commons. Six months after his defeat in the 2015 election, he was elected Progres­sive Conservative MLA for Assiniboia. Quitting the PCs and sitting as an independent from June 30, 2017, he formed and led the Manitoba Party on August 13, 2018. He did not run in the 2019 provincial election, attempting instead (but failing) to regain his federal seat under the banner of the People's Party of Canada. At the time, he claimed that he and Maxime Bernier were "ideological soulmates."
Raymonde Folco (84) years old as of today. This person was born on
16 March 1940 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
Born to a Jewish family in Paris in 1940, Folco survived the Holocaust by being hidden with Christian families outside the city, while her parents faught in the French Resistance.
James F. Forbes (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 October 1820 — 18 May 1887.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
A federal Nova Scotia Liberal, Forbes did not stand for election for a fifth term in February 1887. He died three months later. There is no documentation to confirm or deny that he chose not to run for health reasons.
Thelma B. Forbes (101) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 September 1910 — 5 January 2012.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
First elected in a 1959 by-election, Forbes, a Manitoba Progressive Conservative, became that assembly's first woman Speaker on February 28, 1963.
Eugene A. Forsey (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 May 1904 — 20 February 1991.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
Forsey ran thrice unsuccessfully for election under the CCF banner in the 1940s — once provincially and twice federally. But he made his way to Parliament in October 1970 as a Liberal senator, serving nearly nine years.
André-Gilles Fortin (33) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 November 1943 — 24 June 1977.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada, Fortin died in a road accident at the age of 33. He fell asleep at the wheel at the level of the Sault River, which crosses Québec Highway 20 at the height of Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover.
Mark Fortune (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 November 1847 — 15 April 1912.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Unsuccessful in his bid as the Liberal candidate for Woodlands in the 1886 Manitoba general election, Fortune died in the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912.
Thomas Foster (93) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 July 1852 — 10 December 1945.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Dying in 1945 at age 93, Foster was buried in a massive mausoleum in Uxbridge, Ontario. The one-term Unionist (Conservative) MP had left $80,000 to maintain the property in perpetuity, but the trustees spent the principal and the funds had dried up by the 1990s. That left the town with the responsibility for the monument and, in 2013, it was estimated that $1 million would be needed to repair and restore the building.
Henry D. Francis (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 July 1921 — 2 May 1987.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Elected Social Credit candidate in Similkameen in the 1952 British Columbia general election, Francis never got to take his seat. He resigned to allow unelected finance minister Einar Gunderson to run for it in a by-election, and then failed to get re-elected in Revelstoke in the 1953 general election. Gunderson also failed to get re-elected in 1953 when he ran in Oak Bay, but the seat of Similkameen remained in the hands of Social Credit... until 1988!
F. Paul Fromm (75) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 January 1949 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 0
If even the National Post describes Fromm as "one of Canada's most notorious white supremacists," then it must really be bad!
Liza Frulla (74) years old as of today. This person was born on
30 March 1949 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Frulla, a staunch federalist, is good friends with Louise Beaudoin, an unfailing Québec sovereignist. They talked about it in 2007 in their book, Amitié interdite.
Hedy M. Fry (82) years old as of today. This person was born on
6 August 1941 — .
In office.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 11
Fry's first claim to political fame is that she is the woman who took down the sitting prime minister in Vancouver Centre in the 1993 general election. Her most recent claim is that, at 80 years of age, she is the oldest woman to be elected to Parliament.
Stephen Fuhr (54) years old as of today. This person was born on
27 May 1969 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Describing himself as a "lifelong Conservative," Fuhr became dissatisfied with that party from 2010, as he felt it had "lost sight of everything it said it stood for" under Stephen Harper. A one-term MP for Kelowna—Lake Country from 2015 to 2019, he was the first Liberal to represent a riding in the British Columbia Interior since 1979.

G

Philip A. Gaglardi (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 January 1913 — 23 September 1995.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 7
Gaglardi was elected in 1952 in Kamloops when the British Columbia Social Credit Party formed its first government. He was defeated only 20 years later, when that party lost government.
Daniel H. Galbraith (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 November 1878 — 30 October 1968.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Although he ran federally (unsuccessfully) in 1917 under the banner of the Non­partisan League, and served two terms from 1921 to 1930 as the United Farmers of Alberta MLA for Nanton, Galbraith was good friends with two Conservative prime ministers: Richard Bennett and Arthur Meighen.
Charles Gallagher (±65) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1833 — 16 January 1898.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Gallagher was a British Columbian MLA from 1875 to 1882. The title of his obituary was "Cut to Pieces," as he was run over by the Victoria to Sidney train. His death was deemed accidental, but the accident was described thus: "It is thought that he lay down on the track, for when the train from Sidney reached the cut near Beaver Lake at 6 o'clock, the engineer saw an object on the track a couple of lengths ahead as he rounded the curve, and though the air brakes were on and the engine reversed immediately, it was impossible to stop the train quickly enough to save Gallagher. The unfortunate man must have been at once killed for the wheels passed over his legs and the lower part of the body, crushing it terribly."
François Gendron (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 November 1944 — .
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 11
Elected for the first time in 1976 as part of the first Parti Québécois government, Gendron was re-elected 10 times as the MNA for Abitibi-Ouest until choosing to retire in 2018 at age 73. He served as an MNA for 41 years and 5 months.
Bernard Généreux (61) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 April 1962 — .
In office.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
When the federal Orange Crush rolled over Québec in 2011, many incumbents were indeed crushed. Généreux, a Conservative from eastern Québec, was merely tipped over. He lost by only 9 votes.
Donald R. Getty (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 August 1933 — 26 February 2016.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
What does Alberta Premier Getty have in common with Québec Premier Bourassa? Both were defeated in their own riding despite their party winning the general election, and both had to run in a by-election a few months later so that they could sit in the legislature as premier.
Joseph A. Ghiz (51) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 January 1945 — 9 November 1996.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
When Ghiz became premier of Prince Edward Island in April 1986, he was Canada's first premier of non-European descent.
Alain Giguère (65) years old as of today. This person was born on
24 October 1958 — .
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 1
A person who has never been elected and has run ten times or more at the federal or provincial level is considered in PoliCan an extreme perennial candidate. An NDP candidate in several Québec ridings since 1984, Giguère narrowly escapes this definition, for although he has run 11 times so far, he rode the orange wave in the 2011 federal election and got elected once in Marc-Aurèle-Fortin. That makes him a one-hit wonder.
Philip G. Givens (73) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 April 1922 — 30 November 1995.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
In 1966, toward the end of his term as mayor of Toronto, Givens appeared as himself in the film The Offering. He later served in the Commons and the Ontario legislature.
Tooker Gomberg (48) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 August 1955 — 4 March 2004.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
A controversial environmental activist, Gomberg was reported missing to police on March 4, 2004. The police later stated that he appeared to have jumped off the Macdonald Bridge in Halifax, in the early hours of the morning. He had left his partner a suicide note stating that he had "lost his chutzpah," and his bicycle and helmet were found on the bridge. His body was never found.
Audrey Gordon . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A Progressive Conservative, Gordon is one of the first three Black Canadian MLAs in Manitoba, elected in Fort Rouge in 2019.
G. Jean Gordon (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 March 1918 — 5 September 2008.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Gordon was the first woman elected to the Yukon Council, serving one term from 1967 (21st assembly) until her defeat in 1970.
Ronald A. Gostick (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 July 1918 — 16 July 2005.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
A well-known publisher of anti-Semitic and far-right literature, Gostick ran twice for office in Ontario, coming last each time: in the 1945 federal election for Grey North as the Social Credit candidate, and in the 1948 Ontario general election for Glengarry under the Union of Electors banner. He was the son of Edith Gostick, who was one of the four Alberta Social Credit MLAs elected in Calgary in the 1935 general election.
W. Heward Grafftey (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 August 1928 — 11 February 2010.
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 7
Serving seven discontinuous terms as the MP for Brome—Missisquoi, Grafftey short stature and impish appearance earned him the nickname of "The Gnome from Brome." He remained a Progressive Conservative even after that party ceased to exist. Never denying or confirming that he was gay, the divorced father of three once said, "I never had to come out, because it was never an issue. I was never in. I was always me." But towards the end of his life, he disrupted and stormed out of an Anglican service in Montreal after the priest delivered what he considered to be a homophobic sermon.
Harry E. Graham (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 December 1921 — 21 September 2006.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
It is said that Graham entered politics accidentally when he agreed to help a dentist friend run for office but took his place when the dentist could not find a replacement to use his left-handed dental tools.
John H. Gray (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 June 1811 — 13 August 1887.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
What are the odds? PoliCan names 38 men as "Fathers of Confederation," but two are named John Hamilton Gray: this one, from Prince Edward Island, and another one, from New Brunswick. This one was born in 1811 and died in 1887, while the one from New Brunswick was born in 1814 and died in 1889.
Solomon H. Green (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 October 1885 — 13 April 1969.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
A Liberal, Green was the first Jewish Cana­dian to serve in the Manitoba legis­lature (1910–1914). Only 24 years old when he was elected in Winnipeg North, he served only one term. He died at the age of 83, nearly 55 years after the end of his mandate.
Barbara Greene (78) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 September 1945 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Greene was pregnant in 1978 while sitting as a municipal councillor in North York, which drew media attention not only because she was the first woman politician in Canada to give birth while in office, but also because she was unmarried and declined to give the name of the father. A decade later, she was the one-term Progressive Conservative MP for Don Valley North.
Frank W. Greenwood (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 July 1929 — 11 May 2019.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
The Social Credit's Greenwood never took his British Columbia seat of Columbia, won in a by-election on 15 July 1963, as a general election was called earlier than expected that following September and he chose not to re-offer.
Lisa Gretzky (53) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 January 1971 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Lisa's connection to the famous hockey player Wayne is distant: they are cousins-in-law through her husband Tyler.
Deborah C. Grey (71) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 July 1952 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
When federal Progressive Conservative John Dahmer died five days after being elected in Beaver River, Grey ran and won in the resulting by-election, thus becoming the Reform Party of Canada's first elected MP. In the general election four months earlier, she had finished fourth, behind Dahmer and the Liberal and NDP candidates.
Ruth A. Grier (87) years old as of today. This person was born on
2 October 1936 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Grier was one of the Ontario New Democrats who participated in the confidence and supply agreement that kept the Peterson Liberals in power from 1985 to 1987. Her husband Terry had participated in a similar agreement to prop the Pierre Trudeau Liberals from 1972 to 1974.
Henri Groulx (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 May 1888 — 16 July 1952.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Groulx, Liberal MLA for Montréal-Outremont, died the night of his re-election for a fourth term.

H

Albert P. Hagar (97) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 January 1827 — 14 September 1924.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
When Hagar died on September 14, 1924, at the age of 97, he was the last surviving member of the first federal parliament, which had been formed 57 years earlier.
George E. Hagen (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 July 1878 — 11 November 1940.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Hagen might have had a premonition... The Liberal minister of industry of Nova Scotia resigned from politics in July 1940 but then changed his mind, getting re-elected by acclamation on 28 October 1940. He died in office two weeks later.
Margaret Haile . The dates of birth and death for this person are unknown
?? — ??.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
In 1902, Haile was the first woman in the British Empire to run for political office, running for the Canadian Socialist League (Ontario) in the provincial riding of Toronto North. Had she won, however, she would not have been eligible to take her seat in the legislative assembly.
Zachariah A. Hall (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 February 1865 — 5 April 1952.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
An inventor, Hall patented a design for a brake for vehicle wheels, a hot air furnace, and several designs for kitchen stoves and hockey sticks. He sat for one term as a Liberal-Conservative in the Ontario assembly from 1914 to 1919.
E. Salome Halldorson (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 December 1887 — 31 May 1970.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
In 1936, Halldorson was elected for one term to the Manitoba assembly as the Social Credit MLA for St. George. She returned to teaching languages after she was soundly defeated in 1941 but, in 1953, she wrote against the government's proposed anti-discrimination legislation, considering it as unduly restricting the freedom of employers.
F. Alvin G. Hamilton (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 March 1912 — 29 June 2004.
Times presented: 17;   Times elected: 10
The honorific style of "The Right Honourable" is granted to Canadian prime ministers, chief justices, or governor generals. However, in 1992, in a rare exception, Queen Elizabeth II granted it to Hamilton in honour of his service to the country.
M. Leslie Hancock (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 March 1892 — 2 December 1977.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Serving a single term from 1943 to 1945 in the Ontario assembly as the CCF MPP for Wellington South, Hancock was later known as a breeder of rhododendrons. The Leslie Hancock Garden at the Montreal Botanical Garden was named in his honour.
Arthur Hanger (81) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 February 1943 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
One of the most conservative Reform / Canadian Alliance / current Conservative Party of Canada members, Hanger booked a trip to Singapore in March 1996 to investigate its use of caning in deterring crime, but he was forced to cancel the trip after public outcry and criticism from within the party. (Odd, huh? Such a wonderful idea for Canada...)
Isabel J. Tibbie Hardie (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 February 1916 — 14 November 2006.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Isabel's husband, Mervyn, died in office October 18, 1961. The Lib­er­als nominated her in the 1962 general elec­tion; thus she became the first woman from the Northwest Territories to be elected to the Canadian Parliament. She was de­feat­ed in the general election held the next year.
Jackson A. Hardy (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 November 1924 — 22 August 2006.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Elected as the Progressive Conservative MLA for St. Vital in 1969, Hardy's time in the Manitoba legislature was brief and he was absent from the province for much of 1970. He was quoted as saying, "I have to earn a living, and in Manitoba, it is totally impossible for a politician to do it solely in politics." In February 1971, he resigned the seat he had won by only 23 votes, and his NDP opponent, James Walding, won it in the by-election held in April.
Graham L. Harle (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 December 1931 — 9 February 2022.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
An Alberta Progressive Conservative, Harle resigned from cabinet in November 1983 after he was caught by police in a government vehicle with a prostitute. He claimed he was conducting a personal investigation of prostitution control and was seeking "firsthand information," although he admitted he hadn't disclosed his plan to the police. He also claimed that when he invited the woman into the car, he thought she was looking for a ride. (Did the double meanings in this paragraph slay you?)
Elijah Harper (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 March 1949 — 17 May 2013.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
Harper achieved national fame for his refusal to accept the Meech Lake Accord. The Manitoba NDP MLA denied unanimous consent in the legislature, as he was displeased that there had been no input from Canada's First Nations in the Accord negotiated in 1987.
Stephen J. Harper (64) years old as of today. This person was born on
30 April 1959 — .
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 7
The first time he ran for the Reform Party in Calgary West during the 1988 general election, he who would become Canada's 22nd prime minister was very badly beaten by Jim Hawkes. Harper was 29 years old at the time, but the reverse happened in the 1993 election when Harper was 34.
Joseph A. Harris (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 July 1900 — 6 February 1972.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Harris was the one-term Liberal MLA for South Okanagan from 1933 to 1937 in the British Columbia legislature. A research chemist, he was a discoverer of Promethium — element 61 in the periodic table.
Lloyd Harris (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 March 1867 — 27 September 1925.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Harris was elected as the Liberal MP for Brantford in 1904, choosing not to re-offer in the 1908 election. Nominated as a candidate for the 1925 election, he died one month before it was held.
Karen Haslam (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 April 1946 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
In October 1991, Haslam, at the time the Ontario NDP Minister of Culture and Communication, was escorting then Prince Charles on a tour of the Art Gallery of Ontario when she caught her heel in a door sill and her shoe fell off. Charles gallantly picked it up and offered it back to her, to which she said, "My gracious, my prince is handing me my shoe... Thank goodness it fits."
John Hastings (82) years old as of today. This person was born on
16 March 1942 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
In 2014, when Hastings ran for re-election as trustee at the Toronto District School Board, he was defeated by Michael Ford, who was 52 years his junior. Ford, the nephew of the eventual Ontario Premier Doug and the then-mayor of Toronto Rob, went on to be elected to the Ontario assembly.
Richard B. Hatfield (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 April 1931 — 26 April 1991.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 7
The fact that the New Brunswick premier from 1970 to 1987 was gay was an open secret while he was alive, but it was only discussed openly after his death. But, in having that discussion, are we forgetting that he remains, to this day, the province's longest serving premier? That said, his electoral record while he was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party is as controversial as he was. Both the 1970 and 1974 general election were "wrong winner" elections. In 1970, with 1,598 fewer votes than the Liberals province-wide, his party won a 3-seat majority in the assembly. In 1974, with 2,068 fewer votes, his party won a 4-seat majority. With 301 more votes than the Liberals in 1978, his party won a 2-seat majority. Only his 1982 victory was decisive, and one could say that it was as decisive as his defeat in 1987, when every single member elected to the assembly was a Liberal!
J. Martin Hattersley (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 November 1932 — 7 June 2020.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
Hattersley was the interim leader of the Social Credit Party of Alberta more than a decade after it was banished from power, and he, himself, was never elected. He resigned as leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada in 1983 when the party voted to reinstate James Keegstra. Five years later, in August 1988, his 29-year-old daughter Cathy was robbed and strangled to death in the bathroom of an Edmonton transit station. Afterwards, he became involved in an Edmonton victim's support group and spoke in prisons on alternatives to violence. He (surprisingly) spoke out in favour of prisoners' right to vote.
Frederick W.A.G. Haultain (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 November 1857 — 30 January 1942.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
Haultain, the only premier of the area of the Northwest Territories that is today Alberta and Saskatchewan, is recognized as having had a significant contribution towards the creation of those provinces, although he would have preferred a single large province named Buffalo. Perhaps that explains the renaming in 2020 of Wexit Saskatchewan to the Buffalo Party?
Albert Hellyer (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 July 1860 — 7 September 1945.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Let us hope that a long political career wasn't Hellyer's lifelong dream, because three months after his election to the Ontario legislature in 1919, he was asked to vacate the seat to allow William Raney to win it in a by-election. His consolation prize was to be appointed to a special provincial commission on land title and civil service reform.
Paul T. Hellyer (98) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 August 1923 — 8 August 2021.
Times presented: 13;   Times elected: 8
A federal Liberal minister in the 1960s, Hellyer defected to the Progressive Conservative Party in July 1972, just a few months before that year's general election. More than twenty years after his 1974 electoral defeat as a PC in the Toronto riding of Trinity, after which he was never re-elected, he founded the left-leaning Canadian Action Party in 1997.
Henry D. Helmcken (52) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 December 1859 — 6 July 1912.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
Helmcken was a three-term British Columbian MLA from 1894 to his defeat in 1903. He tried but failed twice to return to the legislature. Curiously, he died three months after his second comeback attempt. If he had won, would he have died in office, one wonders...
Albert M. Hemeon (±53) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1843 — 26 April 1896.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
A Nova Scotia Liberal who died in office in 1896, Hemeon is said to have been a "foremost advocate of female suffrage." Universal suffrage was only enacted in that province in 1920.
D. James Henderson (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 August 1940 — 2 May 2020.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
An Ontario Liberal, Henderson was first elected May 2, 1985 — the election that put an end to the 42-year dynasty of the Progressive Conservatives. He died on the same date 35 years later, but he had been out of office for 24 years and 10 months.
Lorne C. Henderson (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
31 October 1920 — 7 February 2002.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Henderson served as the Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP for Lambton for 21 years. Having received only a grade eight education, he was notorious for his poor grammar, such as when a hospital in his riding received a $160,000 donation in 1975, he delivered it with the line, "Me and the premier brung you this cheque." But, on the other hand, he also had a remarkable ability to remember people's names after having only met them once.
Douglas J. Henning (52) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 May 1947 — 7 February 2000.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Isn't it hard to believe that we ever had such a thing as the Natural Law Party in Canada?
Stephen S. Hessian (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 October 1891 — 5 November 1962.
Died in office.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 4
A Prince Edward Island Liberal, Hessian died in Lagos, Nigeria, while representing the province at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference.
Gemma M. Hickey (47) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 October 1976 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
On December 14, 2017, Hickey became the first person in Newfoundland and Labrador, and one of the first in Canada, to receive a non-binary birth certificate.
John Hickey (±62) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1955 — 14 December 2017.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A Newfoundland Progressive Conservative, Hickey was seriously injured when he accidentally shot himself in the face in a hunting accident, and died five days later.
Patricia (Bonnie) Hickey (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
5 March 1955 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Liberal in St John's East (1993–1997), Hickey was one of the two first women from Newfoundland elected to the Canadian Parliament.
Blaine M. Higgs (70) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 March 1954 — .
In office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Higgs has belonged to three political parties. The New Brunswick premier began as a Liberal but left that party due to his opposition to bilingualism. Trying to become the leader of the province's Confederation of Region Party (CORe), he said, "We do not have an obligation to cater to those people who can speak the common language, English, and refuse to do so." After that party had disappeared, he joined the Pro­gres­sive Conservatives and was first elected as the MLA for Quispamsis in 2010.
Irwin F. Hilliard (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 February 1863 — 23 November 1948.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Hilliard served one term from 1914 to 1919 as the Ontario Liberal-Conservative MPP for Lambton. Twenty-nine years after his defeat, on November 23, 1948, he went missing from his Toronto home after he left his home on a shopping trip. His body was recovered on December 22, 1948, near Lambton. He was 85 years old.
James N. Hillyer (41) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 July 1974 — 23 March 2016.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
An Alberta Conservative MP since 2011, Hillyer was found dead in his Ottawa office. An autopsy confirmed that he died of sudden heart failure that may have indirectly been caused by chemotherapy he underwent a decade before. He was 41 years old.
Andrew Hogan (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 October 1923 — 10 April 2002.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Hogan, the NDP MP for Cape Breton—East Richmond from 1974 to 1980, was the first Catholic priest elected to Parliament. He was known more commonly by his informal name: Father Andy.
Richard B. Holden (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 July 1931 — 18 September 2005.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Holden was one of the four men elected in the 1989 Québec general election under the banner of the federalist English-rights Equality Party. Expelled from the party in October 1991 for balking at party discipline, he sat as an independent until, to the shock of his constituents, he joined the Parti Québécois in August 1992. Suffering from chronic back pain, he committed suicide by jumping from the eighth-floor balcony of his apartment.
Simma Holt (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 March 1922 — 23 January 2015.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A Liberal, Holt served one term in Van­cou­ver Kingsway (1974–1979) and was the first Jewish woman elected to the Canadian Parliament. Prior to that, she was a journalist for the Vancouver Sun, where she experienced sexism, including coworkers handing her photos of nude women, and being told by her editor she would be fired if she again snuck into the male-only Terminal Club to cover a story.
Felix Holtmann (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
5 December 1944 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Holtmann, a former Manitoba Progressive Conservative MP, was arrested on drunk driving charges in 2002 but acquitted in 2007. Arrested again for drunk driving in June 2015, the judge told him, "I don’t see a lot of 70-year-old people in court because they have figured it out, at your age, you should know better and shame on you for not." She fined him $1,600 and prohibited him from driving for one year.
Trevor A.R. Horne (33) years old as of today. This person was born on
24 March 1991 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Horne served one term from 2015 to 2019 as an Alberta NDP MLA. Prior to that, the 24-year-old at the time of his election was a barista at a St. Albert Starbucks. So we wonder how he liked the coffee during caucus meetings.
Harold A. Horwood (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 November 1923 — 6 April 2006.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
When Horwood died on April 6, 2006, at the age of 82, he was the last surviving member of the first Newfoundland assembly of the Confederation era, which ran from mid-1949 to late 1951. He served only one term, for although he was initially a Liberal who supported Joey Smallwood, he became by the mid-1950s one his harshest critics. Today, he is better remembered as an accomplished novelist and non-fiction writer who was awarded the Order of Canada in 1980.
Camillien Houde (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 August 1889 — 11 September 1958.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 4
Under the War Measures Act, Houde was arrested and imprisoned in 1940, while mayor of Montréal, because of his opposition to conscription. He was still very much disliked in parts of English Canada when he ran federally in 1949 as an independent. A few days before the election, trying to link him to George Drew's Progressive Conservatives, The Toronto Star, which openly supported the Liberals, published the headline: "Keep Canada British / Destroy Drew's Houde / God Save the King," with the last line changing to "Vote St. Laurent" in its later editions.
Frank Howard (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 April 1925 — 15 March 2011.
Times presented: 14;   Times elected: 10
Howard had a troubled childhood. His mother was a prostitute while his father was believed to have been her pimp. Sent to an orphanage at the age of 12 and a suc­ces­sion of foster homes after that, he engaged in a month-long crime spree with an accomplice in the summer of 1943 that included robbing two jewellery stores and a hotel while armed with a revolver. Convicted for these crimes, he served 20 months in a federal penitentiary before being released in May 1945. He went on to become a respectable and respected social democratic politician from British Columbia, both provincially and federally.
Joseph Howe (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 December 1804 — 1 June 1873.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Like all but one Nova Scotia MP elected in 1867, Howe was against Confederation but he came to accept it a year later and joined the Conservatives. Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia in May 1873, he died three weeks later, at age 68.
William P. Howland (95) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 May 1811 — 1 January 1907.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Howland was the only Father of Confederation born in the United States. Dying on New Year's Day 1907 at the age of 95 years and 7 months, he was the one who lived the longest among that group of 36 men.
Rhiannon Hoyle . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Running for the NDP in the riding of Edmonton-South, Hoyle was the first Black woman elected to the Alberta legislature.
Charles R. Huband (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 February 1932 — 14 June 2023.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 0
Huband, an unelected Manitoba Liberal, and Kenneth Ranney, an unelected social democratic and climate activist in Ontario, are the oldest known candidates to have run in an election — at least so far in PoliCan. Huband was 87 years old when he ran for his fourth and last time in 2019, as was Ranney on his fifth and last try, also in 2019. Huband died in 2023, aged 93 years and 3 months, while Ranney is believed to be still alive.
Joseph L. Hunter (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 May 1842 — 8 April 1935.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
When Hunter died on April 4, 1935, at the age of 92, he was the last surviving member of the first British Columbia assembly that ran from late 1871 to late 1875. Conservative leaning, he won four non-consecutive terms to the assembly but was defeated in the province's first fully partisan election in 1903. His death came more than 31 years after this defeat and 63 years after his first mandate.
Kenneth E. Hurlburt (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 April 1928 — 17 July 2016.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Hurlburt was the Progressive Conservative MP for Lethbridge from 1972 to 1979. In 1975, a heated argument erupted between him and a colleague, culminating with Hurlburt picking up his colleague and tossing him to the parliamentary floor. After this event, the press dubbed him "The Hurler."
Richard M. Hurlburt (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
25 April 1950 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Hurlburt resigned from the Nova Scotia legislature in February 2010, following revelations that he had spent his constituency allowance on a generator and a 40-inch television (which together cost over $11,000), and sought sanctuary in Florida citing "severe depression." In July 2012, the Progressive Conservative, who had been the MLA for Yarmouth from 1999 until his resignation, was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest, followed by 12 months of probation.

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George S. Inman (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 June 1870 — 30 November 1937.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 1
A Prince Edward Island Liberal, Inman ran four times between 1904 and 1915, but lost each time. Finally elected when he ran in 1927, he resigned after only one year to accept a position on the Prince County Court Bench.
Enoki Irqittuq (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
5 February 1955 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
In 2003, Irqittuq, a member of the first assembly of Nunavut, opposed the inclusion of equal protection for gays and lesbians under the new territory's proposed human rights legislation, saying that, "I do want the human rights act for Nunavut, but to recognize lesbian and gay rights, it’s absolutely unfathomable," arguing, "In the South, people are free to do as they wish; for Inuit, I would outright refuse such a provision in the human rights act. It’s not our lifestyle."
John Irving (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 November 1854 — 10 August 1936.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 2
Irving was a British Columbia MLA from 1894 to 1900. But the account of historian Norman R. Hacking, who came to know him in his later years after politics, remembered him fondly: "The latter days of Captain Irving were sad. He gambled or gave his money away with gay abandon. In a few years his fine mansion in Victoria, his horses and stables, the accumulated wealth of a most successful business career: all were gone. The death of his only son Willie in the first Great War was a great blow, and the old man gallantly offered to enlist and take his son's place... In his later years Captain Irving lived in a small converted store on West Pender Street in Vancouver. With his tall spruce figure and his white goatee beard he was a very handsome gentleman. His favorite remark when meeting an old friend on the street was "How about a smile?" He died in 1936, poor in everything but friends."
William Ivens (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 June 1878 — 20 June 1957.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 4
Ivens was one of the three convicted criminals (for his involvement in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919) who was elected in the 1920 Manitoba general election. He was still in prison when elected as one of the Dominion Labour Party MLAs for Winnipeg.

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Rahim N. Jaffer (52) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 December 1971 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Reform / Canadian Alliance / Conservative MP for Edmonton—Strathcona from 1997 to 2008, Jaffer was the first Muslim elected to the Canadian Parliament.
Otto Jelinek (83) years old as of today. This person was born on
20 May 1940 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
A decade before his political career began, Jelinek and his sister Maria were the 1962 world champions in pair skating.
David F. Jelly (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 September 1847 — 27 December 1911.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Quite some time after being a North-West Territories MLA, Jelly emigrated to Australia. By September 1911, he was admitted to a destitute asylum in Brisbane. A few months later, he jumped from a jetty and drowned.
Byron I. (Boss) Johnson (73) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 December 1890 — 12 January 1964.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
Contemporaries of the premier of British Columbia from 1948 to 1952 referred to him as "Boss Johnson," but that wasn't because he had an authoritarian personality. Rather, Boss is an anglicization of the Icelandic "Bjossi," the diminutive form of Bjorn.
F. Daniel Johnson (53) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 April 1915 — 26 September 1968.
Died in office.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
Member of the Union nationale, Johnson died in office while he was the premier of Québec. Two of his sons became premier after him, but for different parties: first Pierre-Marc for the Parti Québécois from October 3 to December 2, 1985, then Daniel for the Québec Liberal Party from January 11 to September 11, 1994. Wouldn't it be interesting to be a fly on the wall during that family's Christmas dinner?
Jennifer Johnson . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Speaking at an event on September 1, 2022, Johnson compared the presence of transgender children in schools to "adding a teaspoon of feces to a batch of cookies." The remarks were revealed a few days before the 2023 Alberta general election, prompting the leader of the United Conservative Party, Danielle Smith, to say that Johnson would not sit with the caucus if elected. She was indeed elected in Lacombe-Ponoka with a 44% majority and was not admitted to the UCP caucus.
Rylund Johnson . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
From 2019 to 2023, Johnson was the member for Yellowknife North in the legislature of the Northwest Territories. However, before that, he was an admin for that city's BDSM workshop group called Northern Bound . While politics is non-partisan at the territorial level, he identifies as a Green federally, and is an advocate for drug decriminalization and a system of guaranteed basic income.
J. Franklin Johnston (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 September 1929 — 7 February 2017.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
Johnston was an aggressively partisan Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA who, in legislative debates, frequently referred to New Democrats as communists.
Richard F. Johnston (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
8 August 1946 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Johnston decided to retire from politics prior to the 1990 Ontario general election, thus missing out on being part of the province's first (and so far only) NDP government. However, when he announced his retirement, he said that after suffering a heart attack in 1984, he wanted to pursue a career that was easier on his health. He and his wife went on to operate a vineyard and winery in Prince Edward County.
Leonard C. Jones (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 June 1924 — 23 June 1998.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Mayor of Moncton, New Brunswick, from 1963 to 1974, Jones was vehemently opposed to the use of the French language in any sphere of public activity in the city. Remaining popular with the anglophone majority, he won the Progressive Con­ser­va­tive nomination for the 1974 federal election, but PC leader Robert Stanfield refused to sign Jones's nomination papers because of the latter's opposition to the party's policy of bilingualism. Jones instead ran as an independent and served one term as the MP for Moncton.
Guy Joron (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 May 1940 — 28 December 2017.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Joron posthumously bequeathed a sum of $15 million to the Université de Montréal, where he had studied, the largest donation in the history of French-speaking universities in Quebec.
Douglas Jung (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 February 1924 — 5 January 2002.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 2
When Jung was first elected as the Progres­sive Con­ser­va­tive MP for Vancouver Centre, he became the first member of a visible minority elected to the Parliament of Canada. He had vowed not to join the Liberal Party of Canada because of its racist legislation in the past against the Chinese.
René Jutras (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 September 1922 — 31 May 1988.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
In March 1966, Jutras joined forces with the Parti des Créditistes du Québec to form the Ralliement national. Categorically defeated when he ran in the general election of June 1966 in Arthabaska, he resigned from the presidency of the RN in August. He died on May 31, 1988, when he was murdered in his home by a burglar.

K

Nancy U. Karetak-Lindell (66) years old as of today. This person was born on
10 December 1957 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
A Liberal, Karetak-Lindell was the first woman from Nunavut elected to the Canadian Parliament (1997–2008). She is also the first holder of the seat, which was created a few years before Nunavut became a territory distinct from the Northwest Territories.
Gary Keating . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Elected to the New Brunswick legislature on his second attempt in the 2014 general elec­tion, the Liberal Keating resigned from his seat 22 days later, an­nounc­ing that public political life was "not for him" as it would entail too much time away from his family.
James Keegstra (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 March 1934 — 2 June 2014.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
Keegstra, who ran three times from 1972 to 1984 for the Social Credit Party of Canada, was arguably one of Canada's most notorious anti-Semites of the late 20th century.
James M. "Pothole" Kellie (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 December 1848 — 12 December 1927.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Kellie was a British Columbian MLA from 1890 to 1900. He acquired the nickname of "Pothole" when he was prospecting for gold in Golden around 1884. He was convinced that there was some to be found in two deep potholes in Canyon Creek. He and his two partners eventually succeeded in diverting the creek, only to find the decaying leg of a mountain goat.
William J. Kempling (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 February 1921 — 20 May 1996.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Kempling, the Progressive Conservative MP for Burlington from 1972 to 1993, had been a veteran of World War II. Surviving the crash of his plane when it was shot down over the jungle in Burma, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese army and interned in a P.O.W. camp until he was able to escape, making his way through the jungle where he was rescued and brought to safety in Allied territory.
Jason T. Kenney (55) years old as of today. This person was born on
30 May 1968 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
Never married and having no children, Kenney has never confirmed nor denied that he is gay. Without a doubt, even as a public figure, he has a right to a private life. However, he has consistently taken socially conservative stances, including towards gay rights. Self-loathing or political expediency?
L. Gordon Kesler (±79) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1945 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Kesler is the only person to ever be elected to a legislative assembly under the Western Canada Concept banner.
David Khan (49) years old as of today. This person was born on
17 May 1974 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 0
Born in Calgary of an immigrant father from Pakistan and an immigrant mother from England, Khan is fluently bilingual in English and French, and was the first openly gay leader of a major political party in Alberta.
Christopher J. Kibermanis (48) years old as of today. This person was born on
24 March 1976 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Kibermanis, an Alberta Liberal, lost the 2004 race in Edmonton-Castle Downs by only three votes against Thomas Lukaszuk, and that was after several court challenges and four recounts that dragged over more than two months after the election date.
Frank Killam (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 September 1843 — 23 April 1911.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
On September 21, 1867, Killam, who became a Nova Scotia Liberal MLA for Yarmouth two years later, lost his left arm when a cannon prematurely detonated during an election celebration. The accident killed one person.
David T. King (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 June 1946 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
An Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA from 1971 to 1986, King moved to British Columbia and has been involved with that province's Green Party since at least 2013.
Eugene T. Kingsley (±73) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1856 — 9 December 1929.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 0
Kingsley was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of Canada. Born in the United States, he had become radicalized following a train accident in Montana in 1890 that resulted in the amputation of both his legs. While recovering in hospital, he read the works of Marx and Engels. Invited by the Nanaimo Socialist Club to speak on a tour of Vancouver Island, he was asked to stay. He was never elected, neither in the United States nor in Canada.
John N. Kirchhoffer (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 May 1848 — 22 December 1914.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
It is uncertain if the man named Kirchhoffer who ran federally in Durham East in 1872 is in fact John Nesbitt Kirchhoffer. However, he did reside in Ontario at the time, and the winner of that 1872 election was the Liberal candidate while J.N. Kirchhoffer later served in the Senate as a Conservative after a stint as a Manitoba Conservative MLA.
Trevor Kirczenow (±39) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1985 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
Even though everybody knew that Kirczenow had a snowball's chance in hell of winning for the Liberals in the Manitoba federal riding of Provencher, one has to admire the audacity of a transgender person running against a staunch social conservative like Theodore Falk ...twice (in 2019 and 2021)!
Marie-Claire Kirkland-Casgrain (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 September 1924 — 24 March 2016.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
In addition to being the first woman elected to the Québec legislature, Kirkland-Casgrain, a Liberal, was also the first woman in cabinet, the first female judge in the Provincial Court, and the first woman in Québec to be honoured with a national funeral.
Kevin E. Klein . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Klein became the Progressive Conservative MLA for Kirkfield Park following a by-election in 2022. He claimed to be of Métis heritage until his brother and the Manitoba Métis Federation denounced him in a July 2023 CBC article.
Stanley H. Knowles (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 June 1908 — 9 June 1997.
Times presented: 17;   Times elected: 13
Once the social democrat Knowles got elected to Parliament on his third try in Winnipeg North Centre in a 1942 by-election, he would go on to win every time after that up to the 1980 election, except for the 1958 Diefenbaker landslide. He served for 37 and a half years, and was widely regarded as the foremost expert on parliamentary procedure in Canada.
Margaret M. Konantz (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 April 1899 — 11 May 1967.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A Liberal, Konantz was the first woman from Manitoba elected to the Canadian Parliament. She served only one term (Winnipeg South, 1963–1965).
Eiling Kramer (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 July 1914 — 5 May 1999.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 8
At 28 years and 3 months, Kramer, a social democrat, was the longest serving member of the Saskatchewan legislature.
Walter F. Kuhl (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 June 1905 — 11 January 1991.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Kuhl was the Social Credit MP for Jasper—Edson from 1935 to 1949. His speeches in Parliament on the constitution, which argued that the federal government had no taxation authority, thereby forming a basis to refuse to pay income tax, are still referenced by modern Alberta separatists.
Serge Kujawa (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 November 1924 — 22 September 2014.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Kujawa achieved national fame by overseeing the investigation of Saskatchewan politician Colin Thatcher after the murder of Thatcher's ex-wife in 1983, and successfully prosecuting him for first degree murder in 1984.
Amita Kuttner (33) years old as of today. This person was born on
4 December 1990 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Although only by interim, Kuttner is the first transgender person and the first person of East Asian descent to have led a federal party in Canada.
Monte Kwinter (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 March 1931 — 21 July 2023.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
Kwinter was in his mid-50s when he was first elected as a Liberal MPP in a York region riding. He served nine consecutive terms over 33 years, but he was quite ill from shingles during his last term and had to recover in a nursing home. Initially intending to run for a tenth mandate in 2018, he chose instead to retire from politics, at age 87. His retirement lasted five years, as he died in 2023, aged 92.

L

Joseph-Magloire Laberge (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 October 1870 — 12 July 1932.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Mayor of Châteauguay parish in 1908–1909, Laberge was defeated by Honoré Mercier Jr. in a by-election on December 16, 1907. However, his son Joseph-Maurice and his nephew Arthur were more successful later in the 20th century, both being elected as Union Nationale members, with Joseph-Maurice succeeding his cousin Arthur after he had died in office.
Édouard Lacroix (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 January 1889 — 19 January 1963.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Former federal Liberal MP elected for the Bloc populaire canadien in Beauce in the August 1944 Québec general election, Lacroix resigned on May 14, 1945, before ever taking his seat in the assembly.
Charles-Eugène Laforest (±84) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. November 1923 — 14 September 2008.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Charles-Eugène Laforest was the uncle of the webmaster of PoliCan, Maurice Michaud. Maurice recalls, "He ran when I was a teenager living in Moncton, New Brunswick. That was back in the day when people wrote letters and I remember when he sent us a copy of his electoral pamphlet. I didn't remember when he ran or for which party (or that he got clobbered) until I built PoliCan."
Jean-Guy Laforest (80) years old as of today. This person was born on
11 March 1944 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
The non-political career of this one-term New Brunswick Progressive Conservative MLA can only be said to have been ecclectic. He has worked as a barber, then as a metal polisher, machine operator and foreman at a manufacturing plant, and from 1979 to 1987, he owned and operated a restaurant and night club in Madawaska, Maine.
Bob Lagassé . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
A Manitoba Progressive Conservative, Lagassé is known for his sleeve length tattoo and earrings. He has been elected three times (so far) to represent the strongly conservative riding of Dawson Trail.
Richard S. Lake (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 July 1860 — 23 April 1950.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
A Conservative, Lake was elected three times to the legislature of the North-West Territories and twice federally in Qu'Appelle. After his defeat in 1911, he served as the third lieutenant-governor of Saskatchewan from 1915 to 1921, after which he retired from politics and moved to Victoria. He was on board the SS Athenia when it was sunk by a German U-boat in September 1939, but both he and his wife survived.
Gisèle Lalonde (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 June 1933 — 27 July 2022.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
In 1977, Lalonde ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. In a twist of fate, two decades later, she was at the head of the successful campaign to keep the Montfort Hospital opened, which the Harris government wanted to shut down.
Julia (Judy) V. LaMarsh (55) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 December 1924 — 27 October 1980.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
LaMarsh was the MP for Niagara Falls from 1960 to 1968. When it became clear after the first round of voting at the Liberal leadership convention that Paul Hellyer could not win, she urged him to throw his support to another can­di­date in order to stop Pierre Trudeau. Unbeknownst to her, her words uttered on the floor of the con­ven­tion hall were broadcast live over CBC Television: "Paul, you've got to go to Winters. Don't let that bastard win it, Paul — he isn't even a Liberal!"
Jean Landry (75) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 October 1948 — .
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 1
It started off well for Landry, but that might have been beginner's luck. Elected for the Bloc Québécois in Lotbinière in 1993, he ran 11 times after that under different banners and lost each time. His last attempt was in the 2021 federal election, when he came in fifth in a field of seven candidates in Trois-Rivières, running for the second time for the People's Party of Canada. Thus his lacklustre political career makes him, according to PoliCan, a one-hit wonder.
Pierre-Amand Landry (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 May 1846 — 28 July 1916.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 7
Landry served as a Conservative nearly nine years in the New Brunswick legislature and six-and-a-half years in the Commons. He was knighted in June 1916, the first and only Acadian to receive this honour.
Otto E. Lang (91) years old as of today. This person was born on
14 May 1932 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Lang was a prominent federal Liberal minister from 1968 to 1978. When he was appointed Dean of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in 1961, he was only 29 years old, making him the youngest person to be appointed to that position.
Georges-Émile Lapalme (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 January 1907 — 5 February 1985.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
Although Québec Quiet Revolution is associated to Jean Lesage, who was the Liberal premier from 1960 to 1966, historians agree that Lapalme was its architech and that he is also the father of the modern QLP. For Lapalme, culture was the linchpin of the proposed reform, but Lesage did not support this view and did not fund the new ministry of culture he headed. Frustrated, he resigned from cabinet in September 1964 and did not reoffer in the 1966 general election.
Jean-C. Lapierre (59) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 May 1956 — 29 March 2016.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
After leaving politics, Lapierre became a respected political commentator on both radio and television in Québec. He died in a plane crash on landing near the Magdalen Islands airport, on his way to his father's funeral. His wife, two of his brothers, one of his sisters, and the two crew members also died.
Pierre Laporte (49) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 February 1921 — 17 October 1970.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Laporte's name is forever associated to the 1970 October Crisis. On October 10, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the Liberal labour minister; his body was found in Saint-Hubert on October 17. He was 49.
Jean-François Larose (51) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 April 1972 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Larose was convicted in 2019 of sexually assaulting three women over a 15-year period, including a young political staffer, thus receiving three years prison sentence. He served a federal mandate from 2011 to 2015, first as a New Democrat before joining the short-lived Strength in Democracy party in 2014.
René Serge Larouche (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 February 1944 — 14 October 2023.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
On the wrong side of history? Larouche left the Québec Liberal Party caucus in August 1990 on the grounds that he was opposed to the government negotiating with "terrorists" during the Oka Crisis. He resigned as an independent MNA a year later.
Robert A. Larter (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 January 1925 — 26 December 2015.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Five years after being first elected, Larter, a Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative, left office at age 55 due to health reasons. But he only died 35 years later, at age 90.
Amanda Lathlin (47) years old as of today. This person was born on
17 July 1976 — .
In office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
When Lathlin, a New Democrat, was first elected in a by-election in 2015, she was the first First Nations woman to be elected to the Manitoba legislature.
Frederick A. Laurence (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 April 1843 — 13 February 1912.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
Frederick and Henry were brothers. They were both MLAs in the Nova Scotia legislature at the beginning of the 20th century. (Actually, Frederick was first, and Henry then finished his brother's last term provincially so that he could run federally in 1904, and Henry did not re-offer in the 1906 provincial general election.) Frederick was married to Isabelle while Henry was married to Susan. Isabelle and Susan were sisters. Therefore, Frederick and Henry were also brothers-in-law, and Isabelle and Susan, sisters-in-law.
Vincent-Paul Lavallée (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 March 1839 — 15 October 1931.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
Lavallée was elected to Quebec's first assembly following Confederation and served four and a half terms, resigning his seat in September 1885 when he was appointed to the legislative council (the provincial equivalent of the Senate), resigning from it in January 1888. Thus, when this conservative died on October 15, 1931, at the age of 92, he was the last survivor of the first assembly, 64 years after his first mandate.
Bowman B. Law (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 July 1855 — 3 February 1916.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Law was one of the seven victims — and only MP — of the fire that destroyed much of the Canadian Parliament buildings on the night of February 3, 1916.
Patrick D. Lawlor (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 November 1923 — 28 March 1993.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 4
Lawlor was the Ontario NDP MPP for Lakeshore from 1967 to 1981. Despite his poli­ti­cal allegiance, he was friends with Progressive Conservative Premier John Robarts. Stephen Lewis, who led the NDP for part of his tenure, described him as having an "analytical, insightful and outrageous style."
J. Earl Lawson (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 October 1891 — 13 May 1950.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Always the best man, never the groom... In 1938, a few months following his failed attempt to win the federal leadership of the Conservative Party, he placed second to George Drew at the Ontario party's provincial leadership convention.
Walter M. Lea (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 February 1874 — 10 January 1936.
Died in office.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 7
When Lea became the Liberal premier of Prince Edward Island for the second time in 1935, he got to form a government with no opposition, as his party had won all 30 seats in the assembly — a first in the British Commonwealth at that time. Un­for­tu­nate­ly for him, he died less than six months later.
Mark LeBlanc (±44) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1980 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
In the 2003 general election, LeBlanc ran in Saint John-Kings for the senior-focused Grey Party of New Brunswick. That in itself would not be so notable, except that he was 23-years-old at the time.
Nic Leblanc (82) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 November 1941 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
Leblanc is one of those politicians whose allegiance can be said to be fluid. First elected as the MP for Longueuil in the 1984 federal Progressive Conservative wave, he was among those who joined the Bloc Québécois after the implosion of the Meech Lake Accord in June 1990. From shortly before the 1997 general election in which he did not run, he sat as an independent sovereignist. He then attempted to return to Parliament in 2000 under the Canadian Alliance banner, coming a distant third. He again came in third when attempting to enter provincial politics, this time under the banner of the Québec Liberal Party.
Michel Leclerc . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 0
Leader of Free Party Canada, Leclerc claims to be a trained astronaut and denies that moon landings ever happened. He also believes, with no supporting evidence, that vaccines reduce life expectancy.
François-Joseph Leduc (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 November 1895 — 8 February 1985.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
In 1938, Leduc refused to resign as minister, at the request of Maurice Duplessis. As Quebec's constitution included no mechanism to force Leduc, Duplessis tendered the resignation of his entire government to the lieutenant governor on July 7, 1938, allowing him to reappoint and re-swear all ministers, except Leduc.
John W. Leedy (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 March 1849 — 24 March 1935.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
A populist, Leedy was the 14th governor of Kansas from 1897 to 1899. He moved to Alaska in 1901, where he discovered a gold mine and became very wealthy. He moved to Alberta in 1908 and ran in three elections — one federally and two provincially — but came last each time.
Wallis W. LeFeaux (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 September 1881 — 24 November 1972.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 1
After eight failed attempts at both the federal and provincial levels, British Columbia leftist LeFeaux finally won one of the two Vancouver Centre seats in the legislative assembly for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in the 1941 general election, only to lose it in 1945. He also failed to get it back in 1949, and thus fits PoliCan's definition of one-hit wonder.
Réjean Lefebvre (80) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 June 1943 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
In 2019, the former Bloc Québécois MP (1993-2000) and mayor of Saint-Adelphe was found guilty of sexual assault on four minors, notably his granddaughters, and served two years less a day in jail.
Joseph Octave Lemay (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 March 1829 — 12 December 1892.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Lemay, an independent Manitoba MLA from 1870 to 1878, was such a heavy man that he needed two seats to sit down in the legislature.
François-Xavier Lemieux (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 April 1851 — 18 July 1933.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 6
Lemieux won two seats for the Liberal Party in the Québec legislature in the 1897 general election — Bonaventure and Lévis, each with well over 60 percent of the votes. Would he have kept them both had he not been named judge in November of that year?
Robert J. Leslie (43) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 February 1862 — 5 December 1905.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
MLA for Îles-de-la-Madeleine for one year (1904–1905), the Nova Scotia native died in office in the shipwreck of the SS Lunenburg. His body was found 20 days later — on Christmas Day. He was buried in the Fairview Cemetery in Halifax.
Laurier Lévesque (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 October 1929 — 7 September 2005.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
When Lévesque, a New Brunswick Liberal, ran for re-election in Madawaska-Les-Lacs in 1974, he lost to Jean-Pierre Ouellet, the Progressive Conservative candidate, by only 95 votes. The Parti acadien candidate received 99 votes which were generally accepted as being from traditional Liberal supporters.
Daurene E. Lewis (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 December 1943 — 26 January 2013.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
In 1984, Lewis became the first Black woman in Canada to become mayor. Running as a Liberal for Annapolis West in the 1988 Nova Scotia general election, she came in second against the Progressive Conservative incumbent, Greg Kerr.
John B. Lewis (56) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 March 1817 — 24 January 1874.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
The Conservative MP for City of Ottawa, Lewis had been campaigning for reelection in the 1874 election but records show that he did not run. He died two days after the election was held.
Dwain M. Lingenfelter (75) years old as of today. This person was born on
27 February 1949 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Saskatchewan is recognized as the first jurisdiction in North America where a social democratic government was formed (in 1944). Lingenfelter, however, was the first leader of the social democratic party (CCF or NDP) not to become premier. Three more leaders have followed him but, as of 2024, none has become premier, either.
James Litterick . This person's date of birth is known but not their date of death. They were born on
15 July 1901 — ??.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Born in Scotland, Litterick was expelled from the Manitoba legislature in 1940 when the Communist Party was declared illegal, but he had already gone into hiding. Little is known about him after that, but Norman Penner wrote in his book, Canadian Communism, that after the war, Litterick "was expelled from the Party for 'cowardice.'"
Wladyslaw Lizon (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
27 June 1954 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
The South Asian community and other members of Parliament criticized Lizon, the one-term Conservative MP for Mississauga East—Cooksville from 2011 to 2015, when he sent out a survey to his constituents in 2012, asking which languages they spoke, with one of them listed as "Indian." Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis issued a press release calling the question insulting, comparing it to asking someone if they speak Canadian or Mexican.
Terry Loder (71) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 February 1953 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Loder, a devoted Newfoundland Anglican, sat as a Progressive Conservative MNA from 2007 to 2011. A few years after his defeat, a bishop asked him if he wanted to become a deacon. He had thought about it before, but with the process being shortened from four to two years, this time he agreed. He was ordained on May 15, 2019, at age 66.
Nick Loenen (±81) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1943 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
In 1997, Loenen, a British Columbia Social Credit MLA from 1986 to 1991, published Citizenship and Democracy: A Case for Proportional Representation, in which he argues that Canada's first-past-the-post voting system is inefficient and leads to many wasted votes — a view that PoliCan shares.
E. John C. Loney (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 February 1929 — 22 January 2017.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 3
Loney was an Ontario Progressive Conservative MP from 1963 to his defeat in 1968. In 1993, 30 years after his first election, he returned to Parliament as an Alberta Liberal, serving only one term and choosing not to re-offer in 1997.
Avard Longley (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 February 1823 — 22 February 1884.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 2
Once elected the MP for Annapolis in 1878, Longley, a Nova Scotia Conservative and advocate for temperance, attempted to have the bar in the House of Commons closed permanently. (Who knew there was a bar in Parliament in the 19th century?) He didn't stand for re-election in 1882 due to poor health and died less than two years later at the age of 61. One can't help but wonder if a little nightly nightcap might have been beneficial to him.
Ricardo López Bello (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 February 1937 — 27 January 2024.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Born in Spain, Lopez, the Progressive Conservative MP for Châteauguay from 1984 to 1993, was said to have such a thick accent while in Parliament that both English and French interpreters had difficulty deciphering what he was saying. During the Oka Crisis in 1990, he sparked controversy by declaring that it would be better to deport the indigenous people to Labrador.
James S. Lord (56) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 December 1875 — 8 July 1932.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
The New Brunswick Conservative MLA for Charlotte (1925–1930) held the position as Imperial Kalif (vice president) for the Ku Klux Klan of Kanada. The Klan was very influential in the 1920s in New Brunswick as well as Saskatchewan.
Jonathan J. Lord (57) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 December 1956 — 25 March 2014.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
The one-term Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA for Calgary-Currie was born Jonathan Joseph Brown, but as a diehard fan of the English rock band Deep Purple, he changed his surname to Lord as a tribute to Jon Lord.
Wally Lorenz . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
At 7 months and 18 days from one election to the next, the Saskatchewan Party's Lorenz holds the distinction of having had the shortest term in the legislature. Elected in the March 2003 by-election in Battleford-Cut Knife, he failed to get the party's no­mi­na­tion in Cut Knife-Turtleford for the gen­er­al election held the following November.
Solon E. Low (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 January 1900 — 22 December 1962.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Through numerous controversial comments while leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1944 to 1961, Low contributed to his party's reputation for anti­semitism. For instance, in a 1947 CBC broadcast, he claimed a "close tie-up between international communism, international finance, and international political Zionism." He repudiated anti-Semitism a decade later but, by then, his party ceased to be seen as a credible threat to replace the Tories.
Alexander Lucas (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 September 1852 — 8 June 1942.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Lucas was known for his anti-Chinese immigration views, and during his term as mayor of Calgary (1892–1894), he formed a branch of the Anti-Chinese League. Moving to British Columbia in 1897, he served two terms as a Liberal-Conservative in the legislature from December 1910 until his defeat in September 1916.
Michael Lucas (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 March 1926 — 4 May 2020.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
A lifelong Communist, Lucas ran only once — as the Labour-Progressive candidate in Bellwoods in the 1959 Ontario election — coming a distant last in a field of four candidates. He visited the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia many times in his life, and was visiting the latter during the Soviet invasion that ended the Prague Spring. Back in Canada, he vocally supported Moscow's intervention. He remained pro-Soviet until his death in 2020.
M. Rae M. Luckock (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 October 1893 — 24 January 1972.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Along with Agnes Macphail, Luckock is one of the first two women elected to the Ontario Legislature. She held the seat of Bracondale for the CCF from 1943 to 1945.
John H. Lundrigan (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 January 1939 — 5 March 2009.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
A Progressive Conservative MP from Newfoundland, Lundrigan is best remembered for having been on the receiving end of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's famous "fuddle duddle" comment of 1971.
Marcel Lussier (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
30 June 1944 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 1
Lussier has had more luck in life than in politics. The Québec sovereignist ran five times but won only once, sitting two-and-a-half years in Parliament. But a few days before his 78th birthday in June 2022, he won $70 million in Loto-Québec's Lotto-Max.
Thomas Lusted (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 May 1841 — 12 March 1904.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Known as Manitoba's first baker, Lusted was among those taken prisoner by Louis Riel in December 1869. He was forced to leave the country upon his release in February 1870, but when he returned to Manitoba later that year, he was one of the ex-prisoners who actively sought revenge for past mistreatment by persecuting the Métis. He served as an opposition member of the province's short-lived third assembly in 1879.
William F. Luxton (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 December 1844 — 20 May 1907.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Luxton served two non-consecutive terms in the Manitoba legislature. When first elected in 1874, his political goals were prohibition, a purely secular school system, the abolition of French as an official language, and the demise of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1890, he defended himself successfully from both civil and criminal libel charges brought against him by the province’s attorney general, "Fighting Joe" Martin.
James S. Lynch (±53) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1841 — 22 July 1894.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
The first federal election held in Marquette resulted in a tie, so the return of the writ of election was amended to declare that both Lynch and Angus McKay had been duly elected. McKay chose not to run in the following election in which Lynch was defeated by Robert Cunningham, who died five months into his second term.

M

Maurice D. MacCarthy (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 May 1878 — 7 June 1953.
Died in office.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
At age 75, MacCarthy died of a stroke on the eve of the 1953 Manitoba general election. The Liberal-Progressive was widely expected to win a seventh term. Two days after his death, the Winnipeg Free Press published this tribute: "The quiet-spoken member contributed little to the actual debates in the House, but no one would deny that he was most active on behalf of his constituency, and that in his own quiet, sincere and effective way he brought it benefits which a more vocal and less active member would have been unable to do."
Andrew A. MacDonald (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 February 1829 — 21 March 1912.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
MacDonald was the youngest among the 36 men traditionally referred to as Fathers of Confederation. Attending both 1864 conferences, he was 35 years old at the time. He died in March 1912 while in office as a senator for Prince Edward Island, aged 83 years and 1 month.
J. Sandfield Macdonald (59) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 December 1812 — 1 June 1872.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
First premier of Ontario, Macdonald ran as a Conservative provincially but as a Liberal federally.
John A. MacDonald (45) years old as of today. This person was born on
25 January 1979 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
This is the third John A. MacDonald to be elected to the Nova Scotia legislature. The first one was a Liberal-Conservative elected in 1916 in Richmond County, and the second one represented the short-lived Farmers' Party in Hants County in 1920. None seem to be related to the first prime minister of Canada, who has never run in a Nova Scotia riding.
John M. Macdonald (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 May 1906 — 20 June 1997.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Macdonald was called to the Senate in 1960 at the age of 54, after only one term as the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MLA for Cape Breton North. He was the last senator appointed for life who served his term until he died... at the age of 91.
Margaret M. Macdonald (57) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 November 1910 — 3 February 1968.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Macdonald was the first woman from Prince Edward Island elected to the Canadian Parliament. A Progressive Conservative, she was elected in a by-election in King's in May 1961, held after the death of her husband John. Re-elected in 1962, she lost the seat in the general election the next year.
J. Lorne MacDougall (57) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 November 1898 — 6 June 1956.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
A Liberal MP for almost seven years, MacDougall collapsed from a heart attack in Parliament and died on the scene. He was part of a stressful parliamentary debate regarding the Trans-Canada Pipeline, which resulted in three other parliamentarians being admitted to hospital.
John A.F. MacDougall (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
20 April 1947 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
In April 1993, MacDougall attacked the new head of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Sunera Thobani, by asking his own government in the House of Commons, "Earlier today I learned that [Thobani] first is not a Canadian, and second does not have a work permit for this country. Does the Deputy Prime Minister believe that the taxpayers of Canada should be funding such an organi­zation with an illegal immigrant as its head?" In fact, Thobani had just received her landed immigrant status, and MacDougall's question was widely criticized as racist.
Paul W. MacEwan (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 April 1943 — 2 May 2017.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 9
MacEwan was the MLA for Cape Breton Nova for nearly 33 years but, during those years, he ran successfully under four different banners: NDP, independent, Cape Breton Labour, and Liberal.
Grace W. MacInnis (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 July 1905 — 10 July 1991.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 4
MacInnis, NDP MP for Vancouver Kingsway from 1965 to 1974, was the ONLY woman elected to the 28th Parliament in 1968. She was the daughter of the first leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the late J.S. Woodsworth, and the spouse of the late Angus MacInnis, a CCF MP in several Vancouver-area ridings between 1930 and 1957.
Alexander G. MacKay (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 March 1860 — 25 April 1920.
Died in office.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 8
A Liberal, MacKay served 10 years and 8 months as the Ontario MPP for Grey North from 1902 to 1913, and nearly seven years as the Alberta MLA for Athabasca from 1913 to 1920, dying in office at the age of 60. The Toronto press accused him of leaving Ontario politics because he was unable to get along with his new leader, Newton Rowell.
John A. MacKelvie (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 September 1865 — 4 June 1924.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A member of the National Liberal-Conservative Party, MacKelvie was elected to Parliament in a 1920 by-election to replace another Conservative, Martin Burrell, who had been seriously injured in the February 1916 Parliament fire and had been named parliamentary librarian. Although MacKelvie was re-elected in 1921, he died in office, ironically, 14 years before Burrell who continued as librarian until his death in 1938.
David MacKenzie (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
12 June 1946 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Except during the Chrétien Liberal majorities from 1993 to 2004, the riding of Oxford in Ontario has been reliably Progressive Conservative or Conservative since 1953. As such, when MacKenzie retired from politics in January 2023, few doubted what the outcome of the by-election would be. But although the Conservative Arpan Khanna did win, it was with only 42.92% of the votes, as MacKenzie endorsed the Liberal David Hilderley, who received a respectable 36.43% of the votes.
Ian A. Mackenzie (59) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 July 1890 — 2 September 1949.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
As an influential federal Liberal minister from British Columbia during World War II, Mackenzie had a key role in the government's decision to intern Japanese-Canadians for the duration of the war. Pandering to anti-Japanese sentiments, he declared to his constituents at his 1944 nomination meeting, "Let our slogan be for British Columbia: 'No Japs from the Rockies to the seas!'"
H. Wade MacLauchlan (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
10 December 1954 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Premier of Prince Edward Island from 2015 to 2019, MacLauchlan was the first openly gay male premier in Canada. But the first (known) gay premier was Richard Hatfield.
A. Albert MacLeod (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 April 1902 — 13 March 1970.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
MacLeod was one of two communists, along with Joseph Salsberg, to sit in the Ontario legislature from 1945 to 1951. While their political views were often con­sid­ered unpopular, Progressive Conservative premier Leslie Frost did say of them that, "Those two had more brains between them than the rest of the opposition put together."
William A. MacLeod (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
31 October 1883 — 12 April 1961.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
MacLeod was the political nemesis of John W. MacDonald in the Nova Scotia riding of Pictou East. The two men ran for the seat four times, each time against each other. MacLeod, the Progressive Conservative, won once in 1956, and MacDonald, the Liberal, won the other three times (1949, 1953, 1960).
Donald Macmaster (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 September 1846 — 3 March 1922.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Macmaster sat as the Ontario Conservative MPP for Glengarry from 1879 to 1882, resigning to get elected to the House of Commons to represent that same riding until his defeat in 1887. He emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1905 and was elected to the British House of Commons in 1910 as a Conservative, representing the constituency of Chertsey until his death at the age of 75.
Cyrus Macmillan (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 September 1882 — 29 June 1953.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
MacMillan completed his doctoral thesis in the English Department at Harvard University. Finished in 1909 and titled The Folk Songs of Canada, it comprised four volumes in English and French and more than a thousand pages of text, both in type and, in the case of many of the song lyrics, handwritten. It was the first doctoral thesis approved at Harvard that was not confined to American literature.
Robert L. MacMillan (71) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 December 1952 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Serving only one term from 2000 to 2003 as a Prince Edward Island Progressive Conservative MLA, MacMillan is perhaps better known as a professional hockey player than a politician. From 1972 to 1985, he played two seasons in the defunct World Hockey Association (WHA), and eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Agnes C. Macphail (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 March 1890 — 13 February 1954.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 7
The fact that Macphail was the first woman elected to the Canadian Parliament in 1921 is widely known. Less widely known is that she was also the first woman (of two) elected to the Ontario provincial parliament in 1934.
Heath N. Macquarrie (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 September 1919 — 2 January 2002.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 8
Macquarrie was the Progressive Conservative MP from Prince Edward Island from 1957 until his appointment to the Senate in 1979. While publicly loyal to Brian Mulroney, he privately disagreed with the government on several occasions, once saying during a caucus meeting, "You know, a lot of people think I have a prominent nose because of my enjoyment of a certain beverage. Well, that's all nonsense. I got it that way by having to hold it so often while voting for some of Mulroney's bills."
John D. MacRae (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 February 1876 — 20 February 1967.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
MacRae served as the Liberal MP for Glengarry from 1935 to 1940. He was one of the few Liberals to cross to the Conservative-based National Government label in 1940. It didn't work out well for him, nor for the Conservatives whom the Liberals crushed in that general election.
Patrick M. Mahoney (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 January 1929 — 8 June 2012.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Peter G. Makaroff (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 May 1894 — 5 December 1970.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
A CCF sympathizer and close friend of J.S. Woodsworth, Makaroff was considered to be the "first Doukhobor in the world to get an education, to receive a university degree, and to enter a profession."
Marie Malavoy (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 March 1948 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
Briefly minister of Culture and Communications in the Parizeau government, Malavoy had to resign that post in November 1994 after she admitted having voted illegally in the 1980 Québec referendum on sovereignty-association, as she did not yet have her Canadian citizenship at the time.
Gurbax S. Malhi (74) years old as of today. This person was born on
12 October 1949 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
Malhi, a Liberal elected for the first time in 1993 in Bramalea—Gore—Malton, was the first Canadian MP to wear a turban.
Donald M. Malinowski (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 March 1924 — 16 May 2003.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Polish-born Malinowski was a Winnipeg area NDP MLA from 1969 to 1985. He was sentenced to death at the end of World War II for refusing to sign an oath of al­le­giance to the communist government that had come to power, but managed to escape from his prison to Sweden. In 1981, when he contested the NDP nomination for a fourth mandate in the riding of St. Johns against Roland Penner, he told party members that “anyone who voted for a communist would spend an eternity in hell.”
Gary Malkowski (65) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 July 1958 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Representing York East from 1990 to 1995 as a member of the Ontario NDP, Malkowski is Canada's first deaf parliamentarian and the first deaf parliamentarian in the world to address a legislature in a sign language.
Agnès Maltais (67) years old as of today. This person was born on
7 November 1956 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Maltais was the first openly lesbian MNA in Quebec's National Assembly.
Giorgio Mammoliti (62) years old as of today. This person was born on
20 September 1961 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Elected for one term in 1990 as an Ontario New Democrat, Mammoliti was on the right fringe of his party, strongly opposing, for instance, his government's legislation on same-sex marriage. By the 21st century, he became a supporter of the Pro­gres­sive Conservative Party provincially and the People's Party of Canada federally.
Frederick T. Mandeville (97) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 May 1922 — 7 April 2020.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
First elected in 1967, Mandeville was the last person to sit in the Alberta legislature under the Social Credit banner.
Ernest C. Manning (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 September 1908 — 19 February 1996.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
Leader of the Alberta Social Credit, Manning served as premier for 25 years and 6 months — the longest anyone has occupied that position. He was the father of the founder of the Reform Party of Canada, Preston.
Richard Marceau (53) years old as of today. This person was born on
25 August 1970 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
Marceau, the Bloc Québécois MP for Charlesbourg from 1997 to 2006, converted to Judiasm in 2004, ten years after marrying Lori Beckerman. In a 2005 op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen, he described himself as a "pro-Palestinian Zionist," and in 2011, he published a book entitled, A Quebec Jew, From Bloc Québécois MP To Jewish Activist.
Leonard S. Marchand (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 November 1933 — 3 June 2016.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Marchand was the first person of First Nations status to serve in the federal cabinet (1976–1979).
Serge Marcil (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 January 1944 — 12 January 2010.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
Marcil was Québec Liberal MNA from 1985 to 1994 and a Liberal MP from 2000 to 2004. Afterwards, he worked for a Montreal engineering firm and arrived in Haiti on a business trip on January 12, 2010, when a massive earthquake struck. His body was found several days later in the rubble of the Hôtel Montana.
Pauline Marois (75) years old as of today. This person was born on
29 March 1949 — .
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 8
Marois is, of course, the first woman to become premier of Québec. However, it would be easier to list the ministerial portfolios that she did NOT hold whenever the Parti Québécois was in power. No matter one's position on Québec sovereignty, no one can deny that this woman knows the ins and outs of how government works!
Duncan M. Marshall (73) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 September 1872 — 16 January 1946.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 5
The difference a century can make? An Ontarian with more staying power as a Liberal in Alberta than in Ontario! Marshall was the three-term MLA for Olds from 1909 until his defeat in 1921, but the one-term Ontario MPP for Peel from 1934 until his defeat in 1937. Then again, he failed to enter the House of Commons for either an Ontario riding (Muskoka, 1904) or an Alberta riding (East Calgary, 1921).
George F. Marter (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 June 1840 — 10 May 1907.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
What could Marter and Patrick Brown possibly have in common? They are the only permanent leaders of the Ontario Conservatives not to have led their party in a general election.
Joseph Martin (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 September 1852 — 2 March 1923.
Times presented: 16;   Times elected: 10
Martin was elected to four different legislative assemblies: Manitoba's, Canada's, British Columbia's (where he was premier for a few months in 1900), and Great Britain's (East St Pancras, 1910 to 1918). As a young adult, he earned the nickname of "Fighting Joe" due to "his quarrelsome nature and his tendency to resort to his fists to settle disputes." It stuck with him until his death.
Peter F. Martin (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 January 1856 — 2 May 1935.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Martin, a Conservative, as well as Alexander K. Maclean, the incumbent and Unionist Liberal, won the two Halifax seats by acclamation in the 1917 federal election. The election had been postponed nearly two months in the riding due to the Explosion, and opponents had withdrawn in a show of post-explosion unity.
William G. Martin (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 September 1886 — 19 December 1973.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
Martin sat as Conservative or Progressive Conservative (post 1942) in two legis­latures: in Ontario as the MPP for Brantford (1926–1934), and in Manitoba as the MLA for St Matthews (1958–1966). His exit in 1934 was through defeat at the age of 47, but it was voluntary in 1966 when he retired from politics at the age of 79.
Joseph Mason (±51) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1839 — 2 December 1890.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Behold the flowery prose of the 19th century in a local newspaper announcing the death of Mason. "Expressions of sorrow are heard on every hand in regard to the startling intelligence yesterday morning that Jos. Mason, M.P.P., was dying or dead. The news ran through the town like wild fire, and proved to be only too true. He awoke yes­ter­day morning in his usual health and spirits, but shortly after, while conversing with his wife, suddenly expired from heart disease. Medical aid was summoned, and every effort made to restore animation, but without avail; death had been instantaneous."
C. Vincent Massey (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 February 1887 — 30 December 1967.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
First Canadian-born governor general, Massey ran unsuccessfully for the Liberal Party of Canada in Durham in 1925.
Joseph-Aimé Massue (30) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 October 1860 — 10 April 1891.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A federal Conservative MP from Québec, Massue was only 27 years old when he was elected in 1887. Suffering from poor health for many years, he sought a treatment in Montreal in July 1890 and a cure in Paris later that year, but returned home, still unwell, and died in April 1891, aged 30.
Roberta C. McAdams (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 July 1880 — 16 December 1959.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
McAdams is the second woman elected to the Alberta legislature. She would be considered the first of two if the election in her constituency had been held on the same date as the 1917 general election.
William C. McBrien (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 January 1889 — 18 May 1954.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
An unsuccessful Liberal Conservative candidate in the 1919 Ontario general election, McBrien was the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission when his brother Fred died in early July 1938. Oddly, he was involved in a minor car accident on his way to make the funeral arrangements for his brother.
Lachlin McCallum (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 March 1823 — 13 January 1903.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
An Ontario Conservative, McCallum never won with large pluralities. His best performance was during his first election to Parliament, with a plurality of 255 out of 1,997 votes. His worst performance (aside from losing) was federally in 1875, with a plurality of 4 out of 2,662 votes.
Maitland S. McCarthy (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 February 1872 — 17 May 1930.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Offered to lead the Alberta Conservative Party prior to the 1909 election, McCarthy declined as he would have had to resign his federal seat, which he won in a con­tro­ver­sial election in 1908, and felt the resignation would be seen as an admission of guilt.
Thomas H. McConica (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 September 1855 — 19 January 1933.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Born in the American state of Ohio, McConica served in the Ohio Senate from 1892 to 1896 as a Republican. He served a single term as the Progressive MP for Battleford (1921-1925}.
Larry McCormick (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 January 1940 — 3 May 2011.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
McCormick is the perfect example of a federal Liberal who benefitted from the schism on the Right between 1993 and 2003. First elected in 1993, he was the first Liberal to represent Ontario's Frontenac—Addington area since Angus McCallum, who had taken the seat by acclamation in a 1937 by-election.
J. Stephen McCready (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
10 October 1946 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
McCready is the son of twice Speaker of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, Robert McCready. (Note from the PoliCan webmaster: This one made me raise an eyebrow simply because I am a friend of his brother!)
Robert B. McCready (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 October 1921 — 3 November 1995.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
First elected in 1967 as a Liberal in Queens, McCready served as speaker of the New Brunswick legislature in Louis Robichaud's last mandate. When the Progressive Conservatives under Richard Hatfield won a narrow majority government in 1978, McCready agreed to sit as an independent MLA and serve again as speaker. He then formally joined the PCs in March 1981 when he was named to cabinet.
Jennifer J.G. McCreath . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
McCreath, daughter of former Progressive Conservative MP Peter McCreath, was the first transgender candidate in a federal election in Canada.
John A.M. McCue (45) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 September 1912 — 26 May 1958.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
McCue, an Ontario Progressive Conservative, was found dead in his bed at home. A note was found beside his bed saying that no person was involved in any way in taking his life nor was anyone to blame. He said in his note that he "simply could not carry on any longer." He had taken a toxic overdose.
Alexa A. McDonough (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 August 1944 — 15 January 2022.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 8
Daughter of Lloyd Shaw, McDonough was the first woman in Canada to lead a major provincial political party (see Hilda Watson to understand the italicized provincial). It might be surprising to learn that she had "a thing" with long-time Progressive Conservative David MacDonald from 1997 to 2004 and even swayed him toward social democracy.
Malcolm McFadyen (±44) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 June 1838 — c. 15 April 1883.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
A Prince Edward Island Liberal, McFadyen failed three times to get elected — federally in 1878 and provincially in 1876 and 1879 — before winning one of the two seats for Kings 4th in the legislature in the 1882 general election. According to Blair Weeks in Minding the House, "Malcolm McFadyen died ca. 1883," which would suggest that he died in office about a year after finally being elected. However, Weeks does not explcitly say that and no by-election seems to have been called to replace McFadyen even though the next general election on the Island was only held three years later. That said, although by-elections were far more frequent in the 19th century than they are today, calling them was entirely at the discretion of the government, so given that the 29th Legislature was Conservative and McFadyen was Liberal, it is possible that the seat was left vacant.
Hugh J. McGavin (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 November 1874 — 8 March 1958.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
A Manitoba Conservative who served only one term, McGavin was a doctor whose motto is said to have been "Do all the good you can for as many people as you can for as long as you can." During his short tenure in the assembly, he won a debate on immunization for diphtheria by saying, "If you don't use antitoxin you might as well hit the children over the head and be done with it.”
Thomas D'Arcy McGee (42) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 April 1825 — 7 April 1868.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
One of the 36 traditional Fathers of Confederation, McGee remains to this day the only Canadian politician to have been assassinated while in office. He was the third of the 36 to die but, at age 42 years and 11 months, he is the one who died the youngest.
Edward R. McGill (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 September 1912 — 3 December 1996.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
McGill was the Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA for Brandon West from 1969 to 1981. His mild demeanour in the legislature earned him the ironic nickname "Mad Dog McGill."
Thomas McGreevy (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 July 1825 — 2 January 1897.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 8
Expelled from the Commons for corruption on 29 September 1891, McGreevy, a Conservative, managed to return for about a year upon the death of his replacement, John Hearn, also a Conservative. However, he was beaten in 1896 for his first and only time, as he died about six months later at age 71.
Robert H. McGregor (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 March 1886 — 25 October 1965.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 9
A Conservative from Ontario, McGregor served 35 years in Parliament, but he was nicknamed "Silent Bob" McGregor owing to the fact that he rarely spoke. His only recorded speech in the House occurred at the marking of his 74th birthday, in which he said, "If a good many honourable members made fewer speeches in the House, they would be here longer."
Wm. Wallace B. McInnes (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 April 1871 — 4 August 1954.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 4
A member of Parliament for British Columbia for nearly four years and an MLA for nearly five years, McInnes had entered the University of Toronto at the age of 14 and graduated in 1889, the youngest graduate to that date. He was appointed to the office of Commissioner in the Yukon Territory on May 27, 1905, and was said to be one of the most popular politicians in the Yukon in the early 1900s.
Stanley W. McInnis (42) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 October 1865 — 4 November 1907.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
A New Brunswick born dentist and Manitoba Conservative MLA, McInnis was considered a fine baritone singer and was a well-known cartoonist. He died from blood poisoning resulting from appendicitis at the age of 42, while still an MLA.
Hazel A. McIsaac (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 April 1933 — 14 December 2012.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Liberal MHA for St George's from 1975 to 1979, McIsaac was the first woman elected to the assembly after Newfoundland entered the Confederation in 1949. A passenger and car ferry operating between Long Island and Little Bay Islands is named after her.
Henry C. McKay (±62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 March 1925 — c. May 1987.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
McKay, the Liberal MLA for Fernie from 1960 to 1966, became a judge on the Supreme Court of British Columbia afterwards. In passing sentence on convicted serial child killer Clifford Olson, he said, "There is no punishment in a civilized society that is adequate ... it is my considered opinion that you should never be granted parole ... It would be foolhardy to ever allow you to be at large."
A. Daniel McKenzie (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 March 1924 — 15 August 1989.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
We sometimes hear the expression, "He was a man of his time." Well, McKenzie, a Manitoba Progressive Conservative MP from 1972 to 1988, wasn't. Following a 1982 trip to South Africa, he endorsed apartheid, arguing that South African Blacks were intellectually inferior to Whites.
Harrison A. McKeown (68) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 November 1863 — 10 July 1932.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 6
New Brunswicker McKeown ran as a Con­ser­va­tive provincially but as a Liberal federally. However, he was never elected as a Liberal and served six discontinuous terms in the legislature.
Louise C. McKinney (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 September 1868 — 10 July 1931.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
McKinney was the first woman elected to a legislature in the British Empire. She served as the independant Alberta MLA in Claresholm (1917–1921), being narrowly defeated when she ran under the banner of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1921.
Lorne A. McLaren (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 August 1928 — 4 January 2009.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
McLaren was found to be a central figure in the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative fraud scandal that occurred during that party's second mandate (1986–1991). He served three-and-a-half years in prison for fraud, theft and breach of trust.
Audrey M. McLaughlin (87) years old as of today. This person was born on
7 November 1936 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995, McLaughlin was the first female leader of a political party represented in the House of Commons, as well as the first federal party leader to represent a riding in a Canadian territory.
Bruce McLaughlin (78) years old as of today. This person was born on
15 January 1946 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
With changes in technology and practices, some people can claim that a job they once had no longer exists today. But McLaughlin can claim it's the town he represented in the Legislature of the Northwest Territories that no longer exists, as Pine Point was closed in 1988 — a year after the mine producing lead and zinc ores was closed. He then failed to get re-elected in Yellowknife Centre in 1991.
A. Anne McLellan (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
31 August 1950 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
McLellan's narrow victories — her first in Edmonton Northwest with a plurality of only 12 votes — earned her the nickname "Landslide Annie" in Canadian political circles.
George A. McTavish . This person's date of birth is known but not their date of death. They were born on
14 December 1856 — ??.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
McTavish was a British Columbian MLA for a single term between 1882 and 1886. In spring 1893, he left Victoria for a trip to the British Columbia interior, but was never heard from again. Some historians believe he relocated to French Polynesia, abandoning his family and taking on an assumed name.
Edward W. McWhinney (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 May 1924 — 19 May 2015.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Shortly prior to the publication of McWhinney's book in 2005, The Governor General and the Prime Ministers, some medias reported that the former Liberal MP from British Columbia had suggested that a future government of Canada could begin a process of phasing out the monarchy after the eventual demise of Elizabeth II, "quietly and without fanfare by simply failing legally to proclaim any successor to the Queen in relation to Canada." The dean of law at the University of Western Ontario at the time, Ian Holloway, criticized his proposal for its ignorance of provincial input, opining that its implementation "would be contrary to the plain purpose of those who framed our system of government." Elizabeth II died seven years after McWhinney and Charles III was recognized following her death.
Roland F. McWilliams (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 October 1874 — 10 February 1957.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
A Liberal who never ran for office, McWilliams was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba in 1940, serving until 1953. He was a staunch supporter of temperance, and although prohibition was long over, he insisted that alcohol was never served at Government House during his tenure.
Arthur Meighen (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 June 1874 — 5 August 1960.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 6
In 1941, Canada's 9th prime minister returned to the helm of the Conservative Party that had been badly beaten under the banner of "National Government" in the 1940 general election. Trying to gain back a seat in the House of Commons, Meighen ran in a by-election on February 9, 1942, in the Conservative stronghold of York South. The CCF's Joseph Noseworthy handily defeated him. By the end of that year, the old Conservative Party became the Progressive Conservative Party under the leadership of Manitoba's Liberal Progressive premier, John Bracken.
Michael A. Meighen (85) years old as of today. This person was born on
25 March 1939 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Born in Montreal, Meighen, the grandson of former prime minister Arthur Meighen and a friend and advisor of Brian Mulroney, ran twice for a seat in Parliament in the early 1970s, but failed. Mulroney thus appointed him to the Senate in September 1990, where he served until 2012. In 2005, he was the only Conservative senator to vote in favour of same-sex marriage.
Réal Ménard (61) years old as of today. This person was born on
13 May 1962 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
Bloc Québécois MP from 1993 to 2009, Ménard was the second after Svend Robinson to come out as gay. But he is said to be the first to use the word "internet" in a speech in the House of Commons in 1994.
Donald Meredith (59) years old as of today. This person was born on
13 July 1964 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
As the federal Conservative candidate in Toronto Centre in 2008, Meredith lost spectacularly against the then-Liberal Bob Rae, which merited him a nomination to the Senate two years later. However, he had to resign on May 10, 2017, following allegations that he had groomed a teenager for two years, starting when the girl was 16.
L. Petrie Meston (47) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 March 1916 — 22 November 1963.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Meston handily won the new riding of Three Hills for the Alberta Social Credit in the 1963 general election, but he died five months later — before the assembly's first session.
Simonie Michael E7-551 (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 March 1933 — 15 November 2008.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
The federal government, wanting to track the Inuit but finding their traditional names too difficult, implemented a numbered disc system in the 1940s. As such, according to the government, Michael's surname was E7–551. Michael is widely credited for prompting the government to pass a motion authorising Project Surname to replace number-names with patrilineal family surnames.
Yves Michaud (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 February 1930 — 19 March 2024.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
From his fierce defense of the French language in Québec to becoming known as the Robin Hood of the banks in the 1990s, Michaud has often drawn controversy. In 2000, he received a motion of censure from the National Assembly of Quebec for comments he made that some construed as xenophobic and anti-semitic but that in hindsight were not. He never received a formal apology, although some MNAs did express their personal regret to him afterwards for having voted for the motion.
James A. Miller (47) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 July 1839 — 1 November 1886.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
In 1885, after leaving provincial politics, Miller was named Manitoba's registrar general. He lived at the McKenzie Hotel in Winnipeg. On October 27, 1886, he slipped and fell on the hotel steps and died from his injuries five days later, aged 47.
Peter A.S. Milliken (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
12 November 1946 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
Serving four consecutive terms spanning ten and a half years, Milliken was the longest serving speaker of the House of Commons. He is remembered as one of the Commons' best speakers, if not the best.
Ricardo Miranda (47) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 August 1976 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Elected in 2015 as the NDP MLA for Calgary-Cross, Miranda married his partner Christopher Brown on December 28, 2018, with then-premier Rachel Notley officiating.
Christina M. Mitas . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
One of only two Ontario Progressive Conservative MPPs not to have received COVID-19 vaccinations, she was able to avoid expulsion from the caucus in August 2021 by producing a medical exemption letter from a physician. She did not run in the June 2022 Ontario general election.
Humphrey Mitchell (55) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 September 1894 — 1 August 1950.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Unopposed by the Mackenzie King Liberals, Mitchell was elected as a Labour MP in a 1931 by-election in Hamilton East and generally voted with the Liberals. In fact, he refused to join the CCF the following year and ran again as Labour in 1935. But while the Liberals did not oppose him, the CCF did, resulting in the seat going to the Conservatives.
Margaret A. Mitchell (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 July 1925 — 8 March 2017.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Mitchell, the NDP MP for Vancouver East from 1979 to 1993, was one of the first politicians to raise the issue of violence against women, but when she demanded that the government take action to stop domestic violence, some male MPs in the House laughed. Prior to that, in 1980, after voting against a pay raise for MPs, she donated her additional pay to establish the Margaret Mitchell Fund for Women.
John T. Moore (72) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 July 1844 — 5 June 1917.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
An Alberta Liberal MLA in the new province's first assembly, Moore was a staunch prohibitionist who proposed in the legislature the abolition of the "bar," which he called a "drunkard factory." Meanwhile, while everyone argued as to whether Edmonton or Calgary should be the capital, he advocated for Red Deer. When he died in 1917, his will provided that his wife inherited everything with a minor legacy to his daughter, while his sons got nothing. One has to wonder: was it because they drank?
Albanie Morin (55) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 April 1921 — 30 September 1976.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Morin was one of the first three women from Quebec elected to the Canadian Parliament. She was the Liberal MP for Louis-Hébert (1972–1976) until she died in office during her second term, at the age of 55.
Joseph-Octave Morin (38) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 April 1882 — 13 October 1920.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Morin was reported missing on October 13, 1920 in Villemontel (Abitibi region), but his body was not found until the following spring. He was no longer an MLA at the time of his death.
George M. Morrison . This person's date of birth is known but not their date of death. They were born on
28 August 1902 — ??.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Morrison served only one term as the Liberal MLA for Cape Breton South from 1937 until his defeat in the following election in 1941. He was appointed County Court judge in October 1946, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. In 1984, when he would have been 82 years old, he was known to be living on Whitney Avenue in Sydney, but then all trace of him — at least online — vanish after that. Would anybody know when this man died?
William Morrison (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 April 1891 — 1 January 1970.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Winning Okotoks-High River under the Social Credit banner in the 1935 general election, Morrison was immediately urged to cede his seat so that William Aberhart, the premier-designate, could have it. Afterwards, he told the press that he regretted his decision because he had made it with too much haste and did not have time to think about it.
Jamie Moses . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Moses was one of the first three Black Canadian MLAs elected in Manitoba in 2019. In October 2021, he introduced a private member's bill recognizing August 1 of every year as Emancipation Day in Manitoba. The bill was passed unanimously.
Douglas L. Mowat (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 May 1929 — 11 August 1992.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Mowat was the first quadriplegic using a wheelchair elected to a Canadian legislature. He was the British Columbia Social Credit MLA for Vancouver-Little Mountain from 1983 to 1991, except from October 3, 1989 to February 14, 1990, when he sat as Independent Social Credit "to spur an 'open and realistic assessment' of [Premier] Vander Zalm's continued leadership."
Oliver Mowat (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 July 1820 — 19 July 1903.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
At 23 years and nearly 9 months, Mowat, an Ontario Liberal and one of the Fathers of Confederation, holds the record for the person having served as the province's premier the longest.
John W. Munro (52) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 September 1849 — 31 May 1902.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Re-elected for a second term as the Ontario Liberal MPP for Renfrew North, Munro died two days later from blood poisoning, which stemmed from an ulcerated tooth.
James Murdock (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 August 1871 — 15 May 1949.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Murdock failed to enter Parliament in Toronto South in 1921, so Archibald McCoig agreed to cede his safe Liberal seat of Kent to him in exchange of being called to the Senate. Murdock won the seat by acclamation. Then, in 1923, while Minister of Labour, he used information obtained as a member of the Cabinet and withdrew funds from the Home Bank of Canada a day or two before it collapsed. Outraged, Edward Porter, the Conservative MP for Hastings West since 1902, resigned in protest to force a by-election in his riding on this matter, but lost. Murdock's comeuppance only came when he spectacularly failed to get re-elected in Toronto—High Park in the 1925 and 1926 general elections, meaning that he has never really been elected.
George H. Murray (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 June 1861 — 6 January 1929.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 7
A Liberal, Murray was the eighth premier of Nova Scotia for 26 years and 188 days, the longest unbroken tenure for a head of government in Canadian history.
Thomas Murray (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 January 1836 — 29 July 1915.
Times presented: 15;   Times elected: 6
An Ontario Liberal, Murray served four non-consecutive terms in the provincial assembly, the first of which was in the first assembly following a by-election in 1869. Thus, when he died on July 29, 1915, at the age of 79, he was the last survivor of this assembly.
William Murray (59) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 June 1839 — 15 July 1898.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
With his brother Thomas, Murray registered a claim on a nickel deposit near Sudbury, which became the first nickel mine in the area — a mine that was exploited intermittently from 1889 to 1971.

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Henry Nathan (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 September 1842 — 5 February 1914.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Liberal MP for Victoria (British Columbia) from 1871 to 1874, Nathan was the first Jewish Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons. The second one only came 43 years later when the Montreal Liberal Samuel Jacobs was elected in George-Étienne Cartier in 1917. Although a Liberal, he supported the Conservative gov­ern­ment of John A., which strained his relationship with his Victoria co-MP, Amor De Cosmos, whom he called "Cupid" in his private letters. He returned to England, where he was born, in 1876.
Lisa Naylor . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A Manitoba NDP MLA since 2019, Naylor fought in the early 2000s, before same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada, to have her partner recognized as a legal parent of her child, and won.
Ted Nebbeling (±65) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1944 — 28 October 2009.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
The British Columbia Liberal MLA for West Vancouver-Garibaldi from 1996 to 2005 was one of the world's first serving cabinet member to be married to a person of the same sex. He died of colon cancer and his husband, Jan Holmberg, died a bit more than a year later, also of colon cancer.
Cynthia M. (Cindy) Nicholas (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 August 1957 — 19 May 2016.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Nicholas, an Ontario Liberal who served a single term as the MPP for Scarborough Centre before being defeated by the NDP's Stephen Owens in 1990, had become, in 1977, the first woman to complete a two-way swim of the English Channel. She died from liver cancer in 2016, at the age of 58.
Dorise W. Nielsen (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 July 1902 — 9 December 1980.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Nielsen was not only the first woman from Saskatchewan elected to the Canadian Parliament; she was also the first member of the Communist Party to be elected to the Commons — although the party went by various names at the time, such as "Unity" and "United Reform Movement." She represented North Battleford from 1940 until her defeat in the 1945 general election. In 1957, she moved to China and, in 1962, she became a Chinese citizen.
Charles Nolin (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 May 1837 — 28 January 1907.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Nolin, Manitoba Métis, father of 20 children, and political rival of Louis Riel, sat nearly five years from 1874 as the MLA for Ste Anne in the new province's legislative assembly. Later moving to present-day Saskatchewan, he was elected at age 54 as the MLA for Batoche in the legislative assembly of the North-West Territories, but his election was contested two months later and Charles-Eugène Boucher, who was half his age at 27, replaced him.
Jacques-Antoine Normandin (72) years old as of today. This person was born on
17 June 1951 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
An independent candidate in Brome—Missisquoi in Québec's 2008 general election, Normandin claimed to be exempt from paying taxes by virtue of having renounced his citizenship. He came last in a field of six candidates with only 173 votes and his agent was later fined for not filing an election expenses report.
Peter J. North (63) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 August 1960 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
North, first a new democrat and then an independent, was the first MPP of First Nations descent ever elected to Ontario's provincial legislature. He represented the riding of Elgin from 1990 to 1999.
Lorne E. Nystrom (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 April 1946 — .
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 9
Nystrom tried three times to become the leader of the federal NDP — 1975, 1995, 2003 — and each time he came in third place. At age 22, when first elected in 1968, he was the youngest MP ever to be elected.

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Lawrence I. O'Neil (69) years old as of today. This person was born on
14 November 1954 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MP, O'Neil moved in 1985 to introduce a bill to amend the Criminal Code to require that every unborn child be represented by legal counsel at therapeutic abortion committees across the country. Four months before the 1988 general election, he told the House of Commons that " [i]t appears that there is widespread acceptance of the notion that a mother should have the right to control her body. There is no such right." The people of Cape Breton Highlands—Canso voted him out of office, replacing him by a Liberal, Francis LeBlanc.
Beverley J. Oda (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
27 July 1944 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
In 2009, Oda, a Harper-era Conservative minister, directed one of her staff to add a handwritten annotation of "not" to an already signed memo, which resulted in a funding recommendation to be ignored. When she resigned in 2012 over a spending scandal that included a $16 glass of orange juice and a $250 surcharge for smoking in a non-smoking hotel room, Le Devoir ran a front-page headline in reference to the annotation scandal, namely, "Bev Oda not resigning."
Francis R. Oliver (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 September 1853 — 31 March 1933.
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 9
The city of Edmonton might not exist today — or at least not be as important as it is — had it not been for Oliver's efforts at the turn of the last century. But this Laurier-era Liberal was an undeniable racist. So how much of the name of this remarkable, deplorable, and larger-than-life character be visible throughout this city that owes its existence to him?
Louis-Éphrem Olivier (35) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 August 1847 — 20 December 1882.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Olivier, Liberal MP for Mégantic for a single term from 1878 to 1882, died six months after his defeat and was only 35 years old. On the other hand, his first wife, Adelia Pelletier, died in 1877, 16 months after their marriage, and was only 19 years old.
Samuel E. Oosterhoff (26) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 August 1997 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Oosterhoff, an Ontario Progressive Conservative, was only 19 when he was first elected in a by-election in Niagara West—Glanbrook on November 17, 2016, making him the youngest Ontario MPP to ever be elected. This record was previously held by Reid Scott, who was 21 when he was first elected in Beaches in 1948.
David Orchard (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
28 June 1950 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Although never elected, Orchard, describing himself as a red Tory whose ideological idols include John Diefenbaker, has been a prominent op­po­nent of free trade since the 1980s. Running twice for the leadership of the Progressive Con­ser­va­tive Party of Canada, his second bid in 2003 is remembered for the deal he struck with the winner of that race, Peter MacKay, that included a review of free trade and, per­haps more significantly, "no joint candidates with the Canadian Alliance." By the end of that year, the PCs had merged with the Alliance; Orchard ran unsuccessfully for the Liberals in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 general election.
Martine Ouellet (54) years old as of today. This person was born on
8 April 1969 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
Ouellet was the first woman to lead the Bloc Québécois from March 2017 to June 2018, but she did so while still sitting as an independent MNA in Québec City. Her leadership style led to a caucus revolt such that she was defeated in a leadership review, with only 32% of members voting in favour of retaining her as leader.
Logan J. Oxenham (±47) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1977 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
When the NDP's Oxenham was first elected during the 2023 Manitoba general election, he became the first transgender politician to be elected at the provincial, territorial, or federal level in Canada.

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Daniel Paillé (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 April 1950 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Paillé, who was the leader of the Bloc Québécois from December 2011 to December 2013, is (surprisingly) the domestic partner of Martha Hall Findlay, the Liberal MP for Willowdale from 2008 to 2011, who, in 2006, ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Herbert J. Palmer (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 August 1851 — 22 December 1939.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Up until the 1930s, members of a legislature who became premier or entered cabinet were required to resign their seats and run in a ministerial by-election. Palmer became the Liberal premier of Prince Edward Island on May 16, 1911, but lost his ministerial by-election, triggering a change of government and hushering the Con­ser­va­tive John Mathieson as premier.
Jean-Guy Parent (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
10 August 1946 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Perhaps few today remember Parent, who was the péquiste MNA for Bertrand for a single term in the Quebec National Assembly from 1985 to 1989. The Liberal Party won the general election hands down, taking 99 of the 122 seats at the time. However, Parent defeated by 229 votes the leader of the Liberal Party, Robert Bourassa, forcing the latter to run in a by-election the following month so that he could become premier.
Thomas S. Parker (39) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 April 1829 — 24 October 1868.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Gephyrophobiacs: please skip this anecdote! Parker, a Liberal, was the first MP for Wellington Centre. He died as a result of an accidental fall through a bridge after a visit to a sick child in his riding.
Robert H. Parkyn (76) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 November 1862 — 13 June 1939.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 1
Born in Cornwall, England, Parkyn served a single term from 1926 to 1930 in the Alberta legislature as an independent Labour MLA. He became terminally ill in 1938, and his dying wish was to meet the King and Queen during their Canadian tour in 1939. With the help of his wife and his physician, his wish was realized, and he died a few days later.
M. Irene Parlby (97) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 January 1868 — 12 July 1965.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
One of the petitioners of the Famous Five, Parlby served three consecutive terms in the Alberta assembly from 1921 to 1935 as a United Farmers MLA. She was named person of national historic significance in 1966 and, in 2009, along with the other Famous Five, honorary senator.
T. Babbitt Parlee (42) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 March 1914 — 22 January 1957.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Residents of Moncton all know Parlee Beach, located 30 kilometres from downtown. However, perhaps few know that it was named after Thomas Parlee, mayor of Moncton from 1950 to 1952 and a New Brunswick Progressive Conservative MLA who died in office in late January 1957 in a plane crash in Kent County during a snow storm, en route from Moncton to Fredericton. The wreckage of the plane was only found the following May.
Carolyn Parrish (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
3 October 1946 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
A backbencher Liberal MP throughout her career in Parliament from 1993 to 2006, Parrish drew attention to herself from 2003 for her vocal opposition to the George W. Bush administration in the United States. By November 2004, her continued outspokenness on current American policy led Paul Martin to expel her from caucus.
Thomas A. Patrick (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 December 1864 — 6 September 1943.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
A few seconds after midnight on September 1, 1905, Patrick assisted the delivery Jennie Gibney, the province's first baby, at the Yorkton Queen Victoria Hospital. In the same hospital on February 1, 1928, four hours after the bells had rung to celebrate Yorkton becoming a city, he assisted the delivery of Muriel Young, aided by Jennie Gibney, who was by then a registered nurse.
T. Dufferin (Duff) Pattullo (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 January 1873 — 30 March 1956.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 8
With the Conservatives in disarray, Pattullo became the Liberal premier of British Colum­bia in 1933. Three elections later, in 1941, with the rise of the CCF, the Liberals decided to form a coalition with the Conservatives. Pattullo objected, so he was ousted as leader and premier. Both during and after his tenure as premier, he strongly objected to extending the vote franchise to Chinese and Japanese Cana­dians, once declaring that British Columbia could "never tolerate" a demand for such franchise. An important bridge spanning the Fraser River still bears his name. Should it?
Burt W. Paulin (68) years old as of today. This person was born on
13 August 1955 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
At the age of 18 in May 1974, Paulin was the youngest Canadian in history to be elected a school trustee. He was 47 years old when he was first elected to the New Brunswick legislature.
Artur Pawlowski (51) years old as of today. This person was born on
28 March 1973 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
A Polish-Canadian Protestant pastor, leader of The Independence Party in Alberta for a short time, and founder in 2023 of the far-right Solidarity Movement of Alberta, Pawlowski can best be described as a lover of freedom... as long as you're not gay. And don't believe in a woman's right to choose. And don't believe that wearing a mask during a pandemic is a good idea. And you only practice his kind of Christianity. In other words, freedom is only for himself and for those who agree completely with him. So, a lover of freedom... with many conditions!
Jean Payne (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 May 1939 — 4 March 2020.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Payne was one of the two first women from Newfoundland and Labrador elected to the Canadian Parliament. A Liberal, she represented St John's West for one term (1993–1997).
George S. Pearson (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 April 1880 — 24 August 1966.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
As the British Columbian Liberal Minister of Labour during World War II, Pearson was an adamant advocate of driving out the entire Japanese population from the province, despite assertion from the military, navy and RCMP that it posed no threat. His position was that the entire Japanese population could not be trusted.
Lester B. Pearson (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 April 1897 — 27 December 1972.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 8
With his government programs and policies, together with his ground­breaking work at the United Nations and in international diplomacy, including his role in ending the Suez Crisis, Pearson is considered among the most influential Canadians of the 20th century and is ranked among the greatest Canadian prime ministers. However, he never led a majority government and his beginning as Liberal leader was less illustrious, for instance, asking John Diefenbaker to resign in 1957 and let his party return to power without an election due to the recent economic downturn.
Lena E.M. Pedersen (±84) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1940 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Pedersen was the first woman elected to the legislature of the Northwest Territories. She represented Central Arctic from 1970 to 1975. Her grandson, Calvin Pedersen, briefly represented Kugluktuk in the Nunavut legislature (2020–2021).
Méganne Perry Mélançon (33) years old as of today. This person was born on
10 May 1990 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Perry Mélançon, the PQ candidate, won her seat of Gaspé in 2018 by the skin of her teeth. His plurality of 41 votes against the Liberal candidate was more than seven times less than the number of votes rejected (297). But although she received 829 more votes in 2022, she was defeated by the CAQ candidate Stéphane Sainte-Croix, who obtained a plurality of 710 votes over her.
Orville H. Phillips (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 April 1924 — 24 April 2009.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Phillips was the last senator appointed for life, but he chose to retire when he reached the age of 75 after serving 36 years. The Prog­res­sive Con­ser­va­tive from Prince Edward Island died ten years later.
John W. Pickersgill (92) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 June 1905 — 14 November 1997.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Minister for Citizenship and Immigration, Pickersgill suggested to the First Nations chiefs attending a banquet in 1956, following a reburial ceremony, that they should take jobs that would make them independent of government support.
F. Jack Pierce (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 May 1937 — 22 November 2022.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Elected as the Progressive Conservative MPP for Rainy River in the 1985 Ontario general election, Pierce criticized what he called the "local Indians" for expecting more "giveaways and handouts," thus refusing to campaign on reserves. Even some Conservatives believed that his stance was too far to the right.
Henry G. Pineo (44) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 March 1830 — 12 May 1874.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Pineo was one of only two Confederation candidates elected to the Nova Scotia legis­la­ture in 1867. He was also the consul for the United States, Sweden and Norway — are you ready for this? — at Pugwash .
Léo R. Piquette (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 May 1946 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
In April 1987, Piquette, a one-term NDP MLA in the Alberta legislature, attempted to ask a question in French in the assembly, but the speaker of the chamber, David Carter, twice prevented him. Piquette relied on a section of the North-West Territories Act, which he believed had never been repealed after the creation of the province of Alberta in 1905, which provided that English or French could be used in the debates. Sub­se­quently, the Alberta assembly passed the Language Act, known as Bill 60, which instituted English unilingualism by repealing the language rights conferred by the old law.
Albert E. Planta (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 September 1868 — 19 June 1952.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
A Conservative senator from British Columbia, Planta had to resign his seat in 1935 when he was sentenced to two years in jail for fraud, namely using $700 of a client's funds for personal use instead of the client's mortgage. While $700 in 1935 had the purchasing power of over $15,000 in 2023, it still brings the mind of any sane and ethical person to boggle.
Moïse Plante (±62) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1830 — 21 March 1892.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A Québec Conservative, Plante died 13 days after being elected MLA of Beauharnois in the 1892 general election, at the age of about 62. He never took his seat.
J. David Popescu (±77) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1947 — .
Times presented: 13;   Times elected: 0
There should be enforceable laws preventing people like Popescu from running for office. Why? Because he has been found guilty of willfully promoting hatred.
Gladys M. Porter (73) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 August 1893 — 30 April 1967.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative, Porter was the first woman to become mayor in the Maritime provinces (Kentville, 1946) as well as the first woman elected to a provincial legislature in the Maritimes (Kings North, 1960). She died in office towards the end of her second term, at the age of 73.
Walter V. Powers (59) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 July 1895 — 8 November 1954.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Failing to win one of the two seats for Victoria in the 1939, 1944 and 1948 New Brunswick general elections, the (Progressive)-Conservative Powers finally got one in 1952. Named Speaker of the Assembly in 1954 after the death of Elmer Kennedy, he, too, died in office — two years after being elected. He was 59.
P.E. James (Jim) Prentice (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 July 1956 — 13 October 2016.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
The Alberta Progressive Conservative disclaimed his seat on the night the NDP put an end to his party's 44-year hold on power. He was killed along with three others about 17 months later when the aircraft in which they were travelling crashed shortly after taking off from Kelowna, British Columbia.
Albert Prince (49) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 November 1825 — 18 July 1875.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Prince, an Ontario Liberal who served a single term in the province's first legislature, died about six months after leaving office of what was then called apoplexy. Today, it would have been said that he died of an hemorrhagic stroke. He was only 49 years old.
George W. Prout (±101) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 June 1878 — c. 1980.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
Prout's mother was identified in the 1911 Canadian census as being of "Negro" ancestry, which could make him the first Black MLA in Manitoba history, but it has never been officially recorded as such.

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John Queen (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 February 1882 — 15 July 1946.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
Queen was one of the three convicted criminals (for his involvement in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919) who was elected in the 1920 Manitoba general election. He was still in prison when elected.

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Michael F.C. Radcliffe (79) years old as of today. This person was born on
16 December 1944 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
In 1912, Radcliffe's father, Leslie, intended to migrate from the U.K. to Mexico but decided against it due to safety concerns related to the Mexican Revolution, but Leslie's brother Charles — Radcliffe's uncle — went ahead. Alas, he was on board the RMS Titanic and his body was never found.
F.J. Jack Ramsay (86) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 August 1937 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 2
Elected as the Reform MP for Crowfoot in the 1993 federal election, Ramsay was convicted in November 1999 of the attempted rape of a 14-year-old Cree girl 30 years previously while he was an RCMP officer. He failed to get re-elected as an independent in the 2000 election.
Sarah K. Ramsland (81) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 July 1882 — 4 April 1964.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Ramsland was the first woman elected to the Saskatchewan legislature. A Liberal, she represented Pelly from 1919 to 1925.
William Raybould (±50) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1836 — 3 December 1886.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A British Columbian MLA since 1882, Raybould also managed a millinery shop with his wife. He died in office after falling from a wharf behind the shop while the tide was out, apparently investigating a noise from the shop.
Jaroslaw (Slaw) Rebchuk (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 February 1907 — 15 January 1996.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
A Winnipeg municipal politician known as the "Mayor of the North End," Rebchuk ran twice unsuccessfully (in 1958 and in 1969) for a seat in the Manitoba legislature. He was famed for his "Rebchukisms," such as "You've buttered your bread — now lie in it" or "A verbal agreement is not worth the paper it's written on."
Alfred E. Reid (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 November 1891 — 7 October 1955.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
In the 1953 Nova Scotia general election, Reid, a Liberal, won in Hants East against the Progressive Conservative incumbent, Ernest Ettinger, by only one vote. Ettinger appealed and the election was voided in February 1954. The by-election that followed in May ended in a tie between Reid and Ettinger, which the returning officer broke by casting the deciding vote for Reid. However, less than 11 months later, Reid died in office. The seat remained vacant until the 1956 general election, and Ettinger won it back by only 50 votes against the Liberal, Arthur MacKenzie. Two years after his re-election in 1960, Ettinger also died in office, and his son Albert replaced him following a September 1962 by-election.
Thomas Reid (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 April 1886 — 12 October 1968.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Reid, the Liberal MP for Westminster from 1930 to 1949, favoured cultural genocide, particularly of the Japanese in Canada. "Take them back to Japan. They do not be­long here ... and there is only one solution to the problem. They cannot be as­si­mi­lated as Canadians, for no matter how long the Japanese remain in Canada, they will always be Japanese." He was called to the Senate in 1949, where he sat until 1967.
Peter Reilly (44) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 November 1932 — 15 March 1977.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Reilly served one term as the Progressive Conservative MP for Ottawa West from 1972 to 1974. After his defeat, he returned to broadcasting; he was one of the founding reporters of CBC Television's fifth estate. One of his reports aired the day he died of apparent heart failure. He was 43 years old.
Paul Reitsma (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 January 1948 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Reitsma, a British Columbia Liberal who sat in the legislature from 1996 to 1998, was forced to resign when it was revealed that he would write letters to the local newspaper under the assumed named of Warren Betanko, in which he would praise himself and attack his political opponents. Astonishingly, those letters were handwritten, and an RCMP handwritting expert was able to trace them to Reitsma.
Auguste Renaud (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 October 1835 — 7 July 1897.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
Renaud was the first francophone from the Maritimes to sit in the federal parliament. A Liberal born in France but living in New Brunswick, he served only one term representing Kent from 1867 to 1872, when he was defeated by another Liberal, Robert Cutler. (Yes, that could happen back then.)
David R. Reville (80) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 April 1943 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
In the early 1960s, Reville, an Ontario MPP from 1985 to 1990, became manic-depressive and attempted to kill himself during his law studies, and his insti­tu­tio­nali­za­tion in a psychiatric hospital contributed to his becoming a crusader for mental health reform after his release. He once said, tongue in cheek, "I became a New Democrat because I was mentally ill," and also joked that he was the only MPP with a certificate to prove that he was sane.
Beresford R. (Berry) Richards (67) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 August 1914 — 18 May 1982.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
When John Bracken, the Liberal-Progressive premier of Manitoba, resigned to become the leader of the federal Progressive Conservtive Party, Richards, the CCF candidate, won the resulting by-election with a resounding supermajority.
Lee Richardson (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
31 October 1947 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
Serving one term as a Progressive Conservative (1988–1993) and four terms as a Conservative (2004–2012) in the Commons, Richardson was known for his ability to be impartial to all sides in the House and in his Calgary riding office. But, impressed by Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, he attempted to get the Liberal nomination for the 2017 by-election in Calgary Heritage. He failed. Someone named Scott Forsyth won that nomination, and the by-election was won by the Conservative, Bob Benzen.
Margaret I. Rideout (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 June 1923 — 12 May 2010.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Rideout was the widow of the Liberal MP for Westmorland, Sherwood. She won his seat in a by-election on November 9, 1964, thus becoming the first woman from New Brunswick elected to the Canadian Parlia­ment until her defeat in 1968. Twenty years later, George, Margaret and Sherwood's son, also won the seat which by then had been renamed Moncton.
Louis David Riel (41) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 October 1844 — 16 November 1885.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Regarded in his time as a rebel and an outlaw, Riel has in recent years been accepted as a Father of Confederation for his role in establishing a provisional government in the Red River Colony, which became the province of Manitoba in 1870.
Robert Ringma (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 June 1928 — 31 March 2014.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Reform MP for Nanaimo—Cowichan, Ringma opined in 1996 [not a typo] that store owners should be free to move gay and black people "to the back of the shop," or even to fire them, if the presence of that individual offended a bigoted customer.
John W. Ritchie (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 March 1808 — 18 December 1890.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
According to the article on Ritchie by Neil J. MacKinnon in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, many leading Nova Scotians exhibited sympathy for the Southern cause in the American Civil War, and Ritchie, a Father of Confederation, was one of them.
John P. Robarts (65) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 January 1917 — 18 October 1982.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Robarts committed suicide. Premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971, he had been suffering from depression as a result of the 1977 suicide of his son Timothy and a series of debilitating strokes. He had divorced in the early 1970s and remarried to a woman 28 years his junior.
A. Rocke Robertson (40) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 May 1841 — 1 December 1881.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Robertson was the mayor of Victoria in 1870 and completed a single mandate in the British Columbia legislature, serving as provincial secretary from 1871 to 1875. Appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1880, he injured his knee while swimming in the summer of 1881 and had his leg amputated the following November, dying a month later at age 40.
Brenda M. Robertson (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 May 1929 — 23 September 2020.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Robertson was the first woman elected to the New Brunswick legislature. A Progres­sive Conservative, she served from October 1967 until being called to the Senate in December 1984. In 2023, the new bridge replacing the causeway linking Riverview to Moncton was named after her.
James E. Robertson (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 October 1840 — 30 October 1915.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
Although simultaneously holding a seat provincially and federally was allowed until 1874, it was zero-tolerance by 1882. Robertson was still deemed a member of the Prince Edward Island assembly due to a procedural error that led to his resignation not properly being registered at that assembly. That left him without a seat at either level until he won again in King's County federally in 1887.
Joseph-Émery Robidoux (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 March 1843 — 15 March 1929.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
Robidoux, a 19th-century Quebec Liberal MLA, married Sophie Sancer on May 18, 1869. Sophie died suddenly on June 30, 1876. Two years later, on June 22, 1878, he married his sister-in-law Clara (Sophie's sister).
Honoré Robillard (79) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
12 January 1835 — 13 June 1914.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Robillard was the first francophone elected to the Ontario legislature. A Conservative, he defeated his own brother, the Liberal Alexandre Robillard. Honoré represented Russell for one term (1883 to 1886), and then served two terms as the City of Ottawa MP (1887 to 1896), while Alexandre succeeded Honoré in Russell in 1886. (Either the Liberals and the Conservatives were practically interchangeable back then, or discussions often got heated in this family!)
Elizabeth G. Robinson (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 May 1899 — 21 October 1960.
Died in office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
When Robinson's husband died in office in 1953 during his fifth term at the age of 63, she was elected in a by-election to replace him. But she, too, died in office in 1960 — in her third term, at the age of 60.
Svend J. Robinson (72) years old as of today. This person was born on
4 March 1952 — .
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
In spring 1988, Robinson was the first Canadian member of Parliament to come out as gay.
Edith F. Rogers (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 April 1876 — 19 April 1947.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Rogers was the first woman elected to the Manitoba legislature. A Liberal, she was one of the MLAs for Winnipeg from 1920 to 1932.
Tilly J. Rolston (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 February 1887 — 12 October 1953.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Rolston was the first woman in Canada to be appointed a cabinet minister with port­folio and the first woman in British Colum­bia to be given a state funeral. MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, she served as a Con­ser­va­tive, Coalition (Liberal / Conservative), and Social Credit member. As Minister of Education, she introduced a new method of school finance that came to be known as the "Rolston Formula." She was also instrumental in introducing what was effectively a sex-education program into the school curriculum.
Gilbert F. Rondeau (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 March 1928 — 9 March 1994.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 5
One of the few créditistes able to speak English, Rondeau's political career came to an end in 1977 when he was charged and convicted of unemployment insurance fraud, for which he was sentenced to a five-month prison term. Sitting as an independent MP for the remainder of his term, he came in a distant third when he tried to get re-elected in 1979.
Jim Rondeau (64) years old as of today. This person was born on
6 April 1959 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
First elected in 1999 with a majority of only three votes against Progressive Conservative incumbent Linda McIntosh, Rondeau was the first openly gay man in the Manitoba legislature.
Jacques Rose (76) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 April 1947 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 0
After his release from prison in 1978 for his involvement in the 1970 October Crisis, the ex-felquiste Rose ran for office in Quebec three times, first under the banner of the New Democratic Party—Québec in 1994, and twice under the banner of the NPDQ's successor, the Party for Socialist Democracy (in 1997 and 1998).
Arthur W. Ross (55) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 March 1846 — 25 March 1901.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Ross's son John was one of the victims in the Titanic sinking in 1912, but the former Manitoba MLA and MP had died 11 years earlier at the age of 55.
William C. Ross (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 May 1911 — 4 June 1998.
Times presented: 15;   Times elected: 0
Ross legally changed his name from Zuken in 1936, in part to protect his family from anti-Communist harassment.
Allan Rowe (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 October 1956 — 16 March 2015.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
The winter of 2015 was particularly snowy in the Maritime provinces. In late February, Rowe, and Nova Scotia Liberal and a rather heavy-set man, was admitted to hospital after suffering an aneurysm while shovelling. He died on March 16.
H. Leslie Rowntree (60) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 June 1914 — 17 May 1975.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Rowntree, an Ontario Progressive Conservative minister, was known to be a heavy drinker. During a session in the assembly in February 1969, he rose to speak and, after he had said a few words, Morton Shulman, an NDP opposition member, shouted, "The minister is drunk!" The speaker ended the debate. Rowntree said little more. He was removed from cabinet a year later.
Fabien Roy (95) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 April 1928 — 1 November 2023.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
From March 14 to December 28, 1974, Roy spoke on 176 different subjects, the highest number of interventions in the National Assembly of Quebec. In fact, he intervened more often than the premier!
Philippe-Honoré Roy (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 July 1847 — 17 December 1910.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
In 1975, when curators at the Québec National Assembly were restoring the paintings in the "Speakers' Gallery," they wondered why Roy's was missing. It would seem that the members of the assembly at the time had attempted to erase his existence, as he had been convicted in May 1909 of using the funds deposited in the small regional bank he ran as his personal pocketbook. Jailed that month in Laval at the end of his trial, he was transferred to a Montréal hospital at some time in 1910, and died on December 17. The papers at the time barely mentioned his death.
George S.A. Ryerson (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 January 1855 — 20 May 1925.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Ryerson, an Ontario Conservative MPP from 1893 to 1898, had married Mary Amelia Crowther on November 14, 1882. She was on board the Lusitania with their daughter Laura when it was sunk off the Irish coast in May 1915. Laura survived, but Mary Amelia did not.

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Idola Saint-Jean (64) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 May 1880 — 6 April 1945.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
When Saint-Jean, a dedicated suffragist, ran in the federal election in 1930, she was the first woman from Québec to do so. Women would only achieve the right to vote provincially a decade later.
Joseph B. Salsberg (95) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 November 1902 — 8 February 1998.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 4
After losing his seat of St. Andrew in the 1955 Ontario general election, Salsberg left the Labour-Progressive (Communist) Party after witnessing first-hand the extent of the anti-Semitic campaign against Jews in the USSR.
Claire Samson (68) years old as of today. This person was born on
12 April 1955 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
When Samson left the caucus of the Coalition avenir Québec in June 2021, she became the first to sit for the contemporary incarnation of the Conservative Party of Québec.
Benoît Sauvageau (42) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
22 November 1963 — 28 August 2006.
Died in office.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
The Bloc Québécois MP died in a car accident while on his way to a constituency event. Some early media reports suggested his wife had called 9-1-1 because he had allegedly threatened to commit suicide before leaving their home, but a coroner's report in August 2007 confirmed that Sauvageau had been distracted by his cellphone when, for no apparent reason, his car crashed into the back of a tow truck that was stopped on the side of the road.
Jeanne M. Sauvé (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 April 1922 — 26 January 1993.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Sauvé was not only one of the first three women from Quebec elected to the Canadian Parliament (Ahuntsic, 1972–1979; Laval-des-Rapides, 1979–1984); she was also the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (1980–1984) and first woman Governor General of Canada (1984–1990). She died three years after leaving the GG position.
Horst A.L.C. Schmid (90) years old as of today. This person was born on
29 April 1933 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
On October 27, 1977, Schmid's 21-year-old secretary, Victoria Breitkreusz, was shot and killed at the office by her ex-boyfriend, Gunther Hummel, who then committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart. Schmid, an Alberta Progressive Conservative minister, was not in the office when the incident occurred, as he was undergoing gall bladder surgery.
Louis Schmidt (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 December 1844 — 6 November 1935.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
When he died on November 6, 1935 at the age of 90, Schmidt was the last survivor of the first Manitoba assembly which was held from late 1870 to late 1874. Serving two non-consecutive terms, he had chosen not to run in the 1879 general election when the province's assembly had become fully partisan, and established itself in Saskatchewan (then still the North-Western Territories). He therefore lived almost 56 years after his departure from politics, or almost 65 years after his first mandate.
Marlin Schmidt (45) years old as of today. This person was born on
16 October 1978 — .
In office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Schmidt, Alberta NDP MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar, got himself in hot water when opposing the United Conservative Party's proposal to change the referendum law, which he said that even the late British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, would have opposed. But where he might have gone too far is when he added that he "count[ed] on enjoying the fact that Margaret Thatcher is still dead" and regretted she had died "probably 30 years too late."
Norman C. Schneider (96) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 December 1888 — 26 August 1985.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Norman's father John was founder of Schneider Foods, now a division of Maple Leafs Foods, one of Canada's largest producer and seller of fresh and packaged meats.
John C. Schultz (56) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 January 1840 — 13 April 1896.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 4
Described by some as a "genial, powerfully built man, over six feet, red, sandy complexion," Schultz claimed to be a physician who had attended Oberlin College, as well as Victoria University in Cobourg, and to have graduated from Queen’s Uni­ver­sity in Kingston. However, there is no evidence of his having received a medical degree or having been licensed by Victoria University. Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General at the time of his death, recorded during a visit to Winnipeg in 1895 that Schultz and his wife had been "intensely unpopular." Thus, on reading the complimentary description on Schultz’s tombstone, she remarked, "What a pity we knew him."
Ian G. Scott (72) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 July 1934 — 10 October 2006.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
That Scott was gay was an open secret while he was in office, but he spoke of it openly only after he had left politics. He opposed same-sex marriage on the grounds that it reflected the values of a society which, for years, treated homosexuals as pariahs, but he later expressed regret that his government did not introduce spousal benefits for same-sex couples.
P. Reed Scowen (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 June 1931 — 28 May 2020.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Scowen was the Liberal MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce from 1978 to 1987. Although considered a federalist, in 2007 he published Time to Say Goodbye: Building a Better Canada Without Quebec, a work in which he presents the argument that the as­pi­ra­tions of English Canada will only be achieved when Quebec can cease to be a province.
Clifford J. Serwa (88) years old as of today. This person was born on
23 December 1935 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
The decline of the British Columbia Social Credit Party began in 1991, after it lost power to the NDP for the 35th Legislature. It elected only seven members and became the second opposition party after the Liberals, and by the end of this legislature, Serwa was the only one who had remained in the Socred caucus, making him the last MLA for that party.
Lawrence R. Shaben (73) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 March 1935 — 6 September 2008.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
In addition to being the first Muslim minister in any cabinet in Canada, Shaben, an Alberta Progressive Conservative, was one of the survivors of the plane crash that killed the NDP leader at the time, Grant Notley.
John A. Sheppard (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
1 September 1875 — 31 July 1947.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
When a royal commission found Sheppard guilty on two charges of receiving money in return for liquor licenses, he resigned to request a by-election "to give him the opportunity of vindicating his character by an appeal to the people." The gamble didn't pay off: John Chisholm narrowly defeated him in that by-election.
Schuyler Shibley (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 March 1820 — 19 December 1890.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Shibley was described as "a rather fast gent," who had a mistress with whom he had a girl. They were accused but acquitted of manslaughter of that girl, even though, during the trial, Shibley's mistress testified that he "had been there some ten days before [the child’s death] and had given the child a most unmerciful beating for not saying its prayers, and ordered her to do the same whenever it refused."
Morton Shulman (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 April 1925 — 18 September 2000.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Shulman, the Ontario NDP MPP for High Park from 1967 to 1975, was known for being a thorn in the side of the governing Progressive Conservatives, staging stunts such as selling the book The Happy Hooker out of his office after it had been banned by the Toronto Police morality squad, offering MPPs a 10 percent discount.
Caroline Simard (49) years old as of today. This person was born on
5 July 1974 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Simard forever has bragging rights for unseating a premier, even though she herself got defeated in the following general election.
William C. Simmons (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 February 1865 — 26 August 1956.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
When Simmons died on August 26, 1956, at the age of 91, he was the last surviving member of the first Alberta assembly that ran from late 1905 to early 1909. A Liberal, he was elected in a by-election in early 1906, but he resigned to run (unsuccessfully) in the autumn 1908 federal general election. Appointed judge in 1910, he lived nearly 48 years after leaving politics.
Scott Simms (54) years old as of today. This person was born on
12 August 1969 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 6
In 2007, Simms became known in Ireland, so to speak, when a lifeguard at a beach on Achill Island found one of his election posters that had washed up on the sand.
George W. Simpson (47) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 December 1858 — 21 October 1906.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Simpson had been selected as the candidate for Queen's when the next federal election would be held, but the Liberal died well before the election was held and while still sitting in the Prince Edward Island legislature. He was only 47 years old.
William H. Sims (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 January 1872 — 16 August 1954.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
A Manitoba Liberal MLA from 1914 to 1920, Sims married three times. In 1902, he married a widow 12 years his senior, Catherine Emily Richards, adopting her three children. She died in childbirth the next year. Then, in 1909, he married a widowed nurse 11 years his senior, Christina Sophia McIntosh. His third wife, Mary Elizabeth Campbell, was about his age, but she, too, was a widow.
Peter Sinclair (86) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 November 1819 — 9 October 1906.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 8
A Liberal from Prince Edward Island, Sinclair got to see his party take power twice during the course of a legislature: federally in 1873, and provincially in 1891.
William H. Sinclair (38) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 February 1864 — 27 September 1902.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A Conservative in the last legislature of the North-West Territories, Sinclair served only four months. While on a hunting trip, he accidentally shot himself while stowing away his gun.
E. Frederick Singer (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 July 1889 — 10 January 1952.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Singer, an Ontario Liberal-Conservative, became the first Jewish person to sit in the legislative assembly when he was elected in 1929 in Toronto St Andrews.
Antonio P. (Toni) Skarica (70) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 February 1954 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
An Ontario Progressive Conservative, Skarica was against his government's plan to amalgamate Ancaster, Dundas, and Flamborough into the City of Hamilton, and promised during the 1999 election campaign that he would resign if he was unable to prevent it. His government went ahead with its plan at the end of 1999, so he resigned in February 2000.
F. Ann Sloat (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 July 1928 — 21 November 2017.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
The legislature was not in session during Sloat's time as Progressive Conservative MPP for Wentworth North, and she was defeated in the 1985 general election. Therefore, she never took her seat.
Joseph R. (Joey) Smallwood (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 December 1900 — 17 December 1991.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 8
The first premier of Newfoundland when it joined Canada in 1949, Smallwood is sometimes referred to as the "Last Father of Confederation."
Dean E. (Ed) Smith (95) years old as of today. This person was born on
21 October 1928 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
Smith was the Social Credit member of the British Columbia legislature for North Peace River from 1966 to 1979. He was the speaker of the house from March 1976 but was forced to resign from that position in March 1978, when he was criticized following the appointment of his former secretary, Barbara Pennock, to the auditor general's office. He married Miss Pennock the following August.
Larry W. Smith (72) years old as of today. This person was born on
28 April 1951 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
A Conservative anglo-Quebecker, Smith was appointed to the Senate in December 2010. Asked why he accepted the appointment while intending to run for a Commons seat, he drew criticism when he complained that he was taking a "dramatic, catas­trophic" pay cut by serving as a senator, at a time when the base salary for a senator was $132,300 — far above the national average. He did run in the 2011 general election, but he lost miserably, his comment during the campaign that "The people are what are important, not the protection of francophones in Québec" probably contributing to his loss.
Mary Ellen S. Smith (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 October 1861 — 3 May 1933.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Serving as MLA for Vancouver City from 1918 to 1928, Smith was the first woman elected in the British Columbia legislature after the death of her husband Ralph, who was a supporter of women's suffrage. She was also the first female cabinet minister and the first female Speaker in the British Empire.
Murray R. Smith (±72) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1930 — 15 December 2002.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Smith was the husband of the prominent Manitoba NDP minister from 1981 to 1988, Muriel Smith. When he ran in the riding of River Heights in the 1986 general election, an article in the 17 March 1986 issue of the Winnipeg Free Press described him as a retired teacher, aged 55, and "Mr. Muriel Smith." He was defeated by the Liberal leader, Sharon Carstairs. In the next general election two years later, it was Muriel's turn to be defeated in the neighbouring riding of Osborne by another rising Liberal, Reg Alcock.
Peter Smith (56) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 May 1877 — 21 May 1934.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
On October 24, 1924, Smith, the former Ontario Farmers of Ontario MPP for Perth South, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the government and sentenced to three years in jail. He and his co-conspirator, Aemilius Jarvis , were jointly fined $600,000, which would be the equivalent of $10.5 million in 2023.
William Smithe (44) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
30 June 1842 — 28 March 1887.
Died in office.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 7
The seventh premier of British Columbia added the "e" to his name to distinguish himself from another member in the legislature named William Smith — the second premier of the province who, not one to be outdone, changed his name to "Love of the Universe" (or Amor de Cosmos). Once, Smithe was asked whether he thought British Columbia should be annexed to the United States. He replied that, instead, Washington and Oregon should be annexed to British Columbia.
Colleen M. Soetaert (67) years old as of today. This person was born on
7 April 1956 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Shocked by her defeat on her third bid, Soetaert, an Alberta Liberal, told her supporters in her campaign office, "God must want me somewhere else."
Harinder B. (Harry) Sohal (47) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 December 1946 — 15 November 1994.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Nearly a year and a half into his first and only mandate as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Calgary-McCall, Sohal died of a heart attack while jogging. He was only 47 years old.
Robert E. Sommers (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 January 1911 — 28 October 2000.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
British Columbia Social Credit MLA for Rossland-Trail from 1952 to 1958, Sommers was the first cabinet minister in the British Commonwealth to serve a term in prison for accepting bribes in connection with his office.
Charles H. Spence (±62) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1925 — 25 November 1987.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Spence was the unsuccessful Manitoba Progressive Conservative candidate in Lakeside in 1953, but won a seat on Winnipeg city council in 1958. A member of the city's police commission from 1960, Spence, who was gay, was the target of an undercover police surveillance operation in 1961 and was arrested for "attempted gross indecency against a male person." Although a jury later acquitted him, his reputation was ruined and he left Winnipeg, returning only in 1980 to manage a downtown furniture store.
Larry Spencer (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 December 1941 — 14 March 2022.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
A one-term Saskatchewan Canadian Alliance MP, Spencer believed that societal acceptance of homosexuality, which was, in his view, the result of a conspiracy orchestrated in the 1960s by the gay rights movement, was the slippery slope towards accepting polygamy and pedophilia.
Nelson C. Spencer (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 December 1876 — 30 September 1943.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
A New Brunswick-born Conservative, Spencer opted not to seek a third term as the MLA for Medicine Hat in the legislative assembly in order to run (without success) in a June 1921 by-election in the federal riding of the same name, which had been called following the death of Alberta's second premier and current federal Unionist/Conservative minister, Arthur Sifton. Some time after he was badly defeated by the Progressive Party's Robert Gardiner, Spencer moved to British Columbia and was elected in 1928 as a Conservative MLA for Vancouver City, choosing not to re-offer in 1933 given his party's total disarray.
Joseph Spina (77) years old as of today. This person was born on
21 September 1946 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
On two occasions in November 1996, Spina, an Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP in the Harris government, put his good character in full display. While the NDP's Marilyn Churley was speaking about the government's handling of a proposed new school breakfast program, he heckled, "Why don't you go home and take care of your own kids?" A few days later, while the NDP's Gilles Bisson was making a speech in French to mark the tenth anniversary of Ontario's French Language Services Act, he heckled, "Speak English!"
James J. Spratt (±82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 July 1877 — c. 1960.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Spratt's son Herbert was convicted of murdering his fiancée in 1942, becoming the last person executed in Newfoundland.
Thomas S. Sproule (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 October 1843 — 10 November 1917.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 9
A staunch Protestant and Irish Unionist, Sproule held particularly anti-French and anti-Catholic views. He supported the abolition of French-language instruction in Ontario schools, and opposed the expansion of French-language services by the federal government. But when he was nominated speaker of the House of Commons in 1911, because he had to lead the House in prayers in both English and French, he had to take French lessons despite being a lifelong opponent of the language.
Robert L. Stanfield (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 April 1914 — 16 December 2003.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 10
A Progressive Conservative, Stanfield was Nova Scotia's 17th premier from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the federal PCs from 1967 to 1976. A respected statesmen, he was one of only several people granted the style "The Right Honourable" despite not being entitled by virtue of the office he held. He is sometimes referred to as "the best prime minister Canada never had."
Joseph E. Stauffer (42) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
29 October 1874 — 10 April 1917.
Died in office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Stauffer, Alberta Liberal MLA for Didsbury, was killed in action in Europe during World War I. Perhaps related to his death or simply a coincidence, the Election Act in Alberta was amended prior to the June 1917 general election to stipulate that any member of the 3rd assembly would be re-elected by acclamation if he joined for wartime service.
Maitland B.S. Steinkopf (58) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 September 1912 — 22 November 1970.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Progressive Conservative MLA for River Heights from 1962 to 1966, Steinkopf was the first Jewish minister in the Manitoba cabinet. He served only one term but ran for election twice: the second time was due to his resignation in 1964 over a controversial land transaction, but he was re-elected in a by-election in September.
Max Steinkopf (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 March 1881 — 10 May 1935.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Steinkopf was the first Jewish lawyer on the Prairies. He was an unsuccessful Pro­gres­sive Party candidate in Winnipeg in the 1927 general election. However, his son Maitland would serve as the Progressive Conservative member for River Heights from 1962 to 1966, but he didn't live to see his son's accomplishment.
Anthony M. Stenhouse (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 February 1849 — 2 December 1927.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Stenhouse resigned his seat in the British Columbia legislature when he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1887. Although he remained a bachelor, he vigorously defended the right of Mormons to practise polygamy. But he returned to his native Britain in 1891, apparently abandoning the Mormon faith.
Henry H. Stevens (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 December 1878 — 14 June 1973.
Times presented: 10;   Times elected: 7
A long-time Conservative, Stevens formed the Reconstruction Party in 1934 because he argued for drastic economic reform and government intervention in the economy, but the government of Richard Bennett refused to implement those policies. His new party got 8.75% of the popular vote nationwide in the 1935 general election, but he was the only one to win his seat of Kootenay East. He returned to the Conservatives in 1938.
Sinclair M. Stevens (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 February 1927 — 30 November 2016.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
A prominent figure in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Stevens vigorously opposed the merger of the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party. He became the leader of the Progressive Canadian Party in 2007 and served in that position until his death at the age of 89.
Ronald A. Stewart (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 April 1927 — 10 January 2022.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
A Progressive Conservative MP from Ontario from 1979 to 1988, Stewart was responsible for tabling the private member's bill in the 1980s that led to "O Canada" being officially adopted as the country's national anthem.
Belinda C. Stronach (57) years old as of today. This person was born on
2 May 1966 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Stronach shares more in common with Scott Brison than the fact they both crossed to the Liberal Party of Canada (Stronach in 2005 and Brison in 2003). It's the fact they both sought the leadership of another party before crossing over — Stronach for the newly formed Con­ser­va­tive Party of Canada in 2004, and Brison for the moribond Progressive Con­ser­va­tive Party in 2003. Stephen Harper won against Stronach while Peter MacKay won against Brison.
Gladys G.M. Strum (99) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 February 1906 — 15 August 2005.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 2
Strum, a Saskatchewan social democrat, was the mother of 11 children. Only her daughter Carol Elaine was her biological child; the others were refugees: two adopted from Spain, and eight from Czechoslovakia.
Allen B. Sulatycky (85) years old as of today. This person was born on
13 June 1938 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
After the resignation of Progressive Conservative Hugh Horner from the federal seat of Jasper—Edson to successfully run for the provincial party in Lac Ste Anne in the 1967 Alberta general election, Douglas Caston unsurprisingly won in the by-election that following November against Sulatycky, a Liberal. But the surprise came when the PCs endorsed two candidates for the new riding of Rocky Mountain in the 1968 federal election — Caston and someone named Hugh Gourlay — which led Sulatycky to victory with less than 38% of the votes against the combined 48% for the PCs (with Caston coming third). This Liberal anomaly ended in 1972, however, when a future prime minister soundly defeated Sulatycky in the general election.
John P. Sullivan (55) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 April 1843 — 30 September 1898.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
On September 9, 1873, Sullivan, a Prince Edward Island Conservative, married Ellen MacDonald. But she died, so on July 17, 1877, he married Helen MacDonald. They had one daughter and, yes, they named her Ellen. (You can't make up stories like that!)
Melvin L. Swart (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
25 June 1919 — 27 February 2007.
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 5
Swart tried and failed five times between 1950 and 1962 to enter Parliament under the CCF/NDP banner. At the provincial level, the third time was the charm: he failed in 1967 and 1971 but finally won in 1975. He served five terms, but cut his last one short in 1988. Initially a supporter of Bob Rae, Swart became highly critical of his leadership in government.
Kenneth Sweigard (85) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 September 1919 — 11 July 2005.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Sweigard became the leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada in 1983, after Martin Hattersley had resigned over the party's decision to reinstate James Keegstra. For his part, Sweigard, a Pentecostal preacher, referred to Keegstra as a "fine Christian gentleman."

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Joseph Tait (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 October 1839 — 18 March 1911.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Tait died at age 71 after falling down an elevator shaft and fracturing his hip. He had not been an Ontario Liberal MPP for nearly 17 years at the time of his death.
Clive Tanner (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 January 1934 — 9 September 2022.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
Tanner served one term in the Yukon legislative assembly as the MLA for Whitehorse North from 1970 to 1974, at the time when it was still non-partisan. Living in British Columbia by the 1980s, he served as the Liberal MLA for Saanich North and the Islands from 1991 to 1996, not offering for a second term.
Robert G. Tatlow (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 September 1855 — 11 April 1910.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 3
After Tatlow was elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1900, he introduced a private member's bill requiring all immigrants to be able to write in a European language. He died in Victoria in 1910 at the age of 54, after being ejected from his carriage. How's that for a non sequitur?
Gordon E. Taylor (93) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 July 1910 — 26 July 2003.
Times presented: 13;   Times elected: 13
Few better fit the definition of "career politician" than Taylor. Never losing an election, he first ran at age 29 in 1940 and nine more times provincially in Alberta (mostly under the Social Credit banner), then three times federally as a Progressive Conser­vative. After serving more than 48 years, at the age of 78, he chose not to run again in 1988, living nearly 15 years after his retirement from politics.
James S. Taylor (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 January 1872 — 22 December 1960.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
The one-term English-born MP for Nanaimo from 1935 to 1940 had strong interests in astrology and numerology, leading him to stand out so much from the CCF caucus as to bring his leader, M.J. Coldwell, to describe him as "a very queer duck, indeed."
John Taylor (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 January 1834 — 3 March 1925.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 4
Taylor, a Manitoba MLA in the province's first decade, married Flora Campbell in 1856 and had eight children with her. She died in 1872, and he married Frances Jane Brown the next year, with whom he had another fourteen children. That's a total of twenty-two children!
Nathaniel Teed . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
Representing Saskatoon Meewasin since 2022, the NDP's Teed is Saskatchewan's first openly gay MLA.
William H. Temple (89) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 November 1898 — 9 April 1988.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 1
Temple acquired the nickname "Temperance Willie" while serving in the military. His anti-liquor attitudes were attributed to his father's alcoholism, his Methodist upbringing, and his experiences in the military. However, he did admit to having had a few drinks during World War I. "Of course I've had a drink! You cannot go through two world wars without taking a drink," he told the Globe and Mail, but added, "I think I had a few on November 11, 1918, but I don't really remember having any since."
Maurice Tessier (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 December 1913 — 9 February 2005.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 2
In what was known as the "double mandate" until its abolishment about seven years into Confederation, one could be elected to the provincial legislature as well as the House of Commons. But well into the 20th century, nothing prevented someone from being elected at the municipal as well as the provincial levels — at least in Québec. Hence, Tessier was both mayor and Liberal MNA for Rimouski from 1966 to 1969, although he continued as MNA until 1973.
W. Colin Thatcher (85) years old as of today. This person was born on
25 August 1938 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Thatcher, the former Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative MLA for Thunder Creek, was convicted in October 1984 of murdering his ex-wife.
W. Ross Thatcher (54) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 May 1917 — 22 July 1971.
Died in office.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 7
Thatcher, the former Saskatchewan premier, died in office one month after his government was defeated in the 1971 general election. However, perhaps more interesting is what the father and his son Colin share in common, and no, the elder did not kill his ex-wife! It is that when the elder was first elected as MP in 1945, he did so under the CCF banner; by the 1957 election, he had become a Liberal. Similarly, Colin was first elected as a Liberal MLA; two years later, he crossed to the Progressive Conservatives. So in that sense, like father, like son.
Joseph A. Thauberger (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 August 1909 — 21 April 1998.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 0
Thauberger was a perennial Social Credit candidate in Saskatchewan, who was 26 years old when he first ran and 84 when he last ran. Less than a year before his death in 1998, his son Patrick disappeared in Regina while travelling from Winnipeg to Edmonton. Patrick's remains were only found in late 2020, and his older brother Joseph Jr., at that point 78 years old, was charged with first degree murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in July 2023, without the possibility of parole for 10 years, but died the following December.
Carole Théberge (70) years old as of today. This person was born on
14 December 1953 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Two days after her electoral defeat, during the last ministers' council of the former government, what Théberge said to journalists summarized well her bitterness: "The people of Lévis are going to miss me."
Réjean Thomas (68) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 June 1955 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Thomas is a doctor based in Montréal, best known for his commitment to people with AIDS. Born in Tracadie, New Brunswick, many "back home" were surprised when he chose to run for the Parti Québecois in the 1994 general election. He came in second, short 641 votes out of a total of 31,833, counting the 683 that were rejected.
Manitok C. Thompson (±69) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1955 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Thompson was the first woman elected to the Nunavut legislature. In fact, she was the only woman elected to the territory's first assembly... in 1999!
William A. Thomson (61) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 November 1816 — 1 October 1878.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Thomson was the Liberal MP for Welland from late 1872 to 1878. In 1863, he published an economic treatise that must have been a page turner. Its title was, "An essay on production, money, and government; in which the principle of a natural law is advanced and explained, whereby credit, debt, taxation, tariffs, and interest on money will be abolished; and national debt and the current expenses of government will be paid in gold."
Chris Tibbs (46) years old as of today. This person was born on
8 April 1977 — .
In office.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
The base annual salary of a Newfoundland and Labrador MHA is about $95,000. It seems that's not enough for Tibbs, who took a leave of absence in the summer of 2022 to work as a paramedic in Alberta in the oil and gas sector.
John Tobin (±59) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1810 — 9 June 1869.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Tobin died by accidentally shooting himself in his own garden, although the coroner's report was worded somewhat ambiguously and it could have been a suicide. He was a Nova Scotia MLA for Halifax Township from 1855 to 1859 (20th assembly) and for Halifax County Western Division from 1859 to 1867 (22nd and 23rd assemblies) but was no longer an MLA at the time of his death, as he had chosen instead to run federally in 1867 but had failed to secure one of the seats for Halifax.
William F. Tolmie (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 February 1812 — 8 December 1886.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
Tolmie, father of Simon who was premier of British Columbia from 1928 to 1933, was himself an MLA from 1874 to 1878. But well before that, as a young scientist, he wanted to improve the area's relationship with the native Indians and couldn't agree with the prevailing point of view to convert them to Christianity. As a result of this crisis of conscience, he took a leave of absence to further his studies in Europe.
Maurice M. Tougas (68) years old as of today. This person was born on
19 February 1956 — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Tougas, an Alberta Liberal, spent only $5,400 on his successful election bid in 2004, which was one of the lowest budget for a successful campaign in recent provincial election history.
Robert Toupin (75) years old as of today. This person was born on
20 January 1949 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Toupin just never seemed to find a party that fit him. After being a worker for the Québec Liberal Party, he joined Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives and won a seat in the 1984 federal election. Critical of his government's policy, he sat as an independent MP from May 1986, then joined the NDP in December. But ten months later, he sat again as an independent after claiming that the NDP had been infiltrated by communists. Declining an invitation to join the Rhinoceros Party, he ran as an independent in 1988, and finished third.
Suzanne Tremblay (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 January 1937 — 26 September 2020.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Some people have couth; others, don't. Tremblay didn't. From calling Hull (across the river from Ottawa) ugly, to pointing out that then-premier Jean Charest's first name was really "John" to discredit him as a representative of the "true Quebec," and from attacking journalist Joyce Napier (then at Radio-Canada) for not having a fran­co­phone name, to suggesting that Céline Dion had turned her back on her Québec roots in her pursuit of pop stardom, the Bloc Québécois MP excelled at the kind of petty comments that did nothing to elevate her party's reputation.
Walter H. Trueman (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
23 May 1870 — 24 February 1951.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Born in New Brunswick, Trueman was a Manitoba lawyer, judge and unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the 1922 provincial election, and was regarded as being erratic and having a hair-trigger temper. When he retired as judge in 1947, his deteriorating mental state was quite evident.
Charles Tupper (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 July 1821 — 30 October 1915.
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 11
When Tupper died in October 1915 at the age of 94 years and 5 months, he was the last survivor among the 36 men traditionally referred to as Fathers of Confederation.
William F.A. Turgeon (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
3 June 1877 — 11 January 1969.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
A Saskatchewan Liberal who served four non-consecutive terms in the provincial assembly, Turgeon was the last survivor of the first assembly which was held from the end of 1905 to the summer of 1908. Choosing not to run in the general in 1921, he subsequently pursued a judiscial and diplomatic career. When he died on January 11, 1969, 61 years after his first mandate, he had left partisan politics for more than 47 years.
John C. Turmel (73) years old as of today. This person was born on
22 February 1951 — .
Times presented: 94;   Times elected: 0
After 94 runs both federally and provincially since 1979, death is likely the only thing that will stop Turmel from trying again. As of 2023, he has run against 135 profiled individuals in PoliCan, mostly in Ontario. His brother Raymond was also a perennial candidate from 1981 to 2000 but cannot in any way be compared to John.
Nycole Turmel (81) years old as of today. This person was born on
1 September 1942 — .
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
Turmel is the first and only non-Liberal to have represented Hull—(Aylmer) federally since the riding was created in 1917. During her single mandate (2011–2015), she served as the interim leader of the NDP following the death of Jack Layton.

U

Josh Underhay (±35) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1984 — 19 April 2019.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
Underhay was supposed to be the Green Party of Prince Edward Island candidate in Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park in the 2019 general election, but he was killed four days before election day, in a canoeing accident along with his 6-year-old son, Oliver.
Joseph H. Unwin (94) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 September 1892 — 4 January 1987.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
In 1937, Unwin and a government advisor created what became known as the "Bankers' Toadies" leaflet, which urged members of the public to "exterminate" prominent bankers and politicians who were standing in the way of Social Credit monetary reform. William Griesbach, who was one of the nine men identified in the leaflet as "toadies," pressed charges against Unwin for criminal libel and counselling to murder. Unwin was sentenced to three months of hard labour on October 27.
Thomas H. Uphill (87) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 June 1874 — 17 February 1962.
Times presented: 12;   Times elected: 11
Representing for nearly 40 years the riding of Fernie in the British Columbia legislature as a labour MLA (under some banner or another by that name), Uphill declined to join in 1933 the provincial chapter of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation because he viewed it as too conservative.

V

Joseph-Charles Van Horne (82) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 January 1921 — 27 August 2003.
Times presented: 8;   Times elected: 6
The bridge that links New Brunswick to Québec between Campbellton and Pointe-à-la-Croix is named after Van Horne, but should it still be? During his flamboyant campaign for New Brunswick's 1967 general election, as leader of the Progressive Conservatives, he frequently mocked the Liberal premier's mixed Acadian and First Nations heritage, saying, "These half-breeds shouldn't drink liquor." Some might argue that the times were different and that people could say such things back then. But, really... At the risk of being accused of wokeism...
William J. Vankoughnet (81) years old as of today. This person was born on
7 January 1943 — .
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 5
Even though the charges were dropped, Vankoughnet, an Ontario Progressive Conservative, saw his political career begin to decline in May 1996, when he was caught trying to buy sexual favours from an undercover police officer who was posing as a prostitute.
Oliver L. (Al) Vardy (73) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 September 1906 — 13 April 1980.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
A former Newfoundland Liberal MHA, Vardy was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of the public trust in 1973, and fled to Panama City. He was captured there in 1974, but he escaped in Florida while being brought back to Canada, and was able to successfully fight his extradition until his death in 1980.
Angela Vautour (63) years old as of today. This person was born on
10 April 1960 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
In what was dubbed the "NDP breakthrough" in Atlantic Canada in the 1997 federal election, Vautour won what was considered the safest Liberal seat in New Brunswick — so safe that Jean Chrétien had run for it in a December 1990 by-election after he had become leader. Except that, to everyone's surprise, Vautour defeated Dominic LeBlanc, son of Roméo-Adrien, former minister and Governor General at the time. But then she had a falling out with the NDP and joined the Progressive Conservatives in September 1999. Her constituents didn't follow her, and LeBlanc handily defeated her in the 2000 federal election.
Peter J. Veniot (72) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 October 1863 — 6 July 1936.
Died in office.
Times presented: 13;   Times elected: 11
A Liberal, Veniot was the first Acadian premier of New Brunswick, from 1923 to 1925. After losing the premiership in 1925 to John Baxter, he won the federal seat for Gloucester in the 1926 general election, dying in office 10 years later at the age of 72.

W

Jean Casselman Wadds (91) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
16 September 1920 — 25 November 2011.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Casselman Wadds, a former Progressive Conservative MP, was Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom during the time of the repatriation of the Constitution. Afterwards, Pierre Trudeau would say of her: "I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution. The Queen, who was favourable, Margaret Thatcher, who undertook to do everything that our Parliament asked of her, and Jean Wadds, who represented the interests of Canada so well in London."
D. James Walding (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
9 May 1937 — 23 April 2007.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 5
A disgruntled Manitoba NDP backbencher, Walding brought down his own government in 1988 by voting against the budget. A majority government had never before been defeated by a vote from one of its own.
Hilda P. Watson (75) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 January 1922 — 14 July 1997.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Watson was the first woman leader of a political party in Canada (and the Yukon). The 1978 general election was the first partisan election in the territory. While her Progressive Conservative Party won a majority government, she herself lost her seat in Kluane by 38 votes while an independent conservative candidate won 49. Perhaps that is why we forget that she was the first woman to lead a party?
Elsie E. Wayne (84) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
20 April 1932 — 23 August 2016.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
When the governing federal Progressive Conservatives were reduced to two seats in Parliament in 1993, Wayne held one of those seats and Jean Charest held the other. Fiscally, the former mayor of Saint John supported Canada's social safety net and the welfare state, but socially, she opposed same-sex marriage, abortion rights, and decriminalization of marijuana.
Martin K. Weiche (90) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 January 1921 — 2 September 2011.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 0
Yes, in the 1968 federal election, a full-fledged Nazi ran in the Ontario riding of London East. But the good news is that he obtained only 89 votes, or 0.28%
Robert Weir (56) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
5 December 1882 — 7 March 1939.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
A one-term Conservative MP from Saskatchewan from 1930 to 1935, Weir had become a school inspector in 1919 after returning from World War I, but quit on his doctor's advice and began farming in an attempt to improve his health. He returned to farming after his electoral defeat, but was killed in a farming accident on March 7, 1939.
Walter C. Weir (55) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
7 June 1929 — 17 April 1985.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
It is difficult not to think of Weir, a Progressive Conservative and 15th premier of Manitoba, as anything but a sore loser. Upon the defeat of his government on Election Night 1969, Weir told his supporters, "The people have spoken. And the people are wrong."
Edward C. Whelan (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
6 August 1919 — 11 December 2007.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 6
Edward was a social democrat in the Saskatchewan legislature, whereas his brother Eugene and his niece Susan — Eugene's daughter — were Ontario Liberals in Parliament.
Eugene F. Whelan (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
11 July 1924 — 19 February 2013.
Times presented: 9;   Times elected: 8
Folksy, flamboyant and colourful, the Minister of Agriculture in Pierre Trudeau's government and die-hard Liberal was once quoted to say, "The Con­ser­va­tives have the right wing, the NDP have the left wing. The Liberals have two wings and that's why we can fly."
William T. White (88) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 November 1866 — 11 February 1955.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 2
White was the Conservative federal finance minister during World War I. Initially reluctant to raise taxes in the early period of the war, he eventually introduced an income tax of 4% on all income of single men over $2,000, and a range of 2% to 25% for Canadians with annual incomes of more than $6,000. At the time, he recommended that "a year or two after the war is over, the measure should be reviewed by the minister of finance of the day, with a view of judging whether it is suitable to the conditions which then prevail." We all know the conclusion that was drawn.
Frank H. Whiteside (43) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
15 July 1873 — 29 September 1916.
Died in office.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
It shouldn't have needed to be said, but having an affair with the wife of your elec­tion campaign manager is not a good idea. When Thomas Helmbolt (the campaign manager) found letters exchanged between his wife and "his man," he shot White­side on September 24, 1916, who then died five days later. Helmbolt was charged with murder but was acquitted on grounds of self-defence. That's because, before dying, Whiteside claimed that Helmbolt drew a revolver first, but Helmbolt and his wife testified that Whiteside had brought a revolver and drew first. Note that the principal concerned was unable to defend himself in court.
Charlotte E. Whitton (78) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
8 March 1896 — 25 January 1975.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Whitton was mayor of Ottawa from 1951 to 1955 and was an unsuccessful federal Progressive Conservative candidate in 1958, this despite that party's historic land­slide victory that year. The fact that no civic building bears her name is likely not because she may (or may not) have been a lesbian, but because of the racist views she held against Jews, Armenians, Ukranians, or any "non-British."
Percy D. Wickman (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
10 June 1941 — 3 July 2004.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Wickman, an Alberta Liberal, is remembered as the man who unseated the premier, Don Getty, who otherwise had secured the Progressive Conservatives' sixth con­sec­u­tive majority government.
Cornelius W. Wiebe (106) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 February 1893 — 12 July 1999.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Wiebe was the first Mennonite to serve in the Manitoba legislature (Morden and Rhineland, 1932–1936), serving only one term as a Liberal-Progressive. He died 63 years after the end of his mandate, at the age of 106.
Arthur T.H. Williams (48) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 June 1837 — 4 July 1885.
Died in office.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 4
As lieutenant-colonel in the Midland Battalion, Williams contributed to putting down the North-West Rebellion in 1885. Shortly after the Battle of Batoche in May, he became ill and died of fever on a steamboat on the North Saskatchewan River.
E. Joseph Williams (103) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 January 1918 — 18 August 2021.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
A Progressive Conservative representing the Manitoba riding of Churchill from 1958 to 1959, Williams was the first MLA of Danish ancestry. Serving only one term, he died more than 60 years later, at the age of 103.
James M. Williams (72) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 September 1818 — 25 November 1890.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
In the summer of 1858, Williams struck oil when he was digging for water during a local drought in Ontario's Lambton County, becoming the first person in North America to establish a commercial oil well.
John R. Williams (93) years old as of today. This person was born on
9 September 1930 — .
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Sean Conway and Bob Runciman, veteran Ontario legislators, both named Williams as having the most boring speaking style they had encountered in their careers. So how did Williams speak? "The type of rhetoric from the opposition continues without any factual backups to substantiate those generalizations that have become nothing more than rhetoric and well-worn clichés." It should be noted that Williams was a lawyer by training.
Blair Wilson (60) years old as of today. This person was born on
18 May 1963 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 1
We tend to think of Elizabeth May as the first Green Party MP but, in fact, it is Wilson. Elected in 2006 as a Liberal in British Columbia's West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country riding, he got into trouble with his party for failing to mention a number of his legal and financial troubles during the nomination vetting process. He sat as an independent from October 2007 until August 2008, the eve of the general election, when he joined the Green Party. But Parliament having been dissolved, he did not get to sit as such. He came in last as a Green; John Weston, his 2006 Conservative rival, won.
Cairine R.M. Wilson (77) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
4 February 1885 — 3 March 1962.
Times presented: 0;   Times elected: 0
Wilson was the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate, under the advice of Mackenzie King. She was the wife of one-term Liberal MP for Russell, Norman Wilson, and sister-in-law of the MP for the same riding from 1887 to 1903, William Cameron Edwards.
Gordon F. Wilson (75) years old as of today. This person was born on
2 January 1949 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 2
Wilson's second wife, Judi Tyabji, was also born on a January 2, but 16 years after him. They divorced in 2022.
James Wilson (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 December 1810 — 14 May 1891.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 1
In the 1871 Ontario election, Wilson, a Conservative, ran in both Norfolk ridings in his bid to get re-elected. It didn't work, nor did his attempted comeback in 1879.
Lawrence A. Wilson (70) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 June 1863 — 3 March 1934.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Re-elected for a second term in Vaudreuil—Soulanges, Wilson, a federal Liberal from Québec, intended to retire and thus resigned his seat in February 1929. However, he was persuaded to run in the by-election held in July to succeed himself, which he did. But he held his ground in 1930 and did not re-offer in the general election, instead being named to the Senate.
Robert G. Wilson (89) years old as of today. This person was born on
2 November 1934 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
A Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA from 1975 to 1981, Wilson lost his seat of Wolseley after he was convicted of conspiracy to import and traffic in marijuana.
James Winning (±70) years old at time of death. This person's date of birth is only an estimate but their actual date of death is known. Those dates were
c. 1881 — 25 November 1951.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Although Winning by name, he had to accept losing (spectacularly) the only time he ran for office, in the 1922 Manitoba provincial election.
Robert H. Winters (59) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
18 August 1910 — 10 October 1969.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 4
Winters finished second against Pierre Trudeau in the 1968 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election. The next year, while in California, he died of a heart attack while playing tennis. One wonders... Would he have died had he won and not been out there playing tennis, or would his ticker given up on him anyway? Would he have been the first (and only) Canadian prime minister to die in office in the 20th century?
Joseph Wise (74) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
14 October 1834 — 21 February 1909.
Times presented: 4;   Times elected: 3
Wise, a Prince Edward Island Liberal, defected to the opposition Conservatives in 1899, but the drama reached its climax in May 1900, when he was dragged out of the legislature by the Sergeant-at-Arms and locked in the Speaker’s room until the House adjourned. It's a story worth reading that also involves Henry Pineau, an MLA who only sat for just over a year and whose defection from the Conservatives to the Liberal saved the sitting government.
Leslie E. Wismer (69) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
21 February 1909 — 8 July 1978.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
In 1951, Wismer, an Ontario CCF member, took exception to a $6,000 grant to the Art Gallery of Toronto for the purchase of two busts by Picasso and Matisse, appraising them as showing "just how hideous some things can be."
John T. Wolfe (39) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
2 May 1955 — 2 February 1995.
Times presented: 2;   Times elected: 1
In the years following the defeat of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan in 1991, 14 MLAs were convicted of fraud and breach of trust in a phony expense-claim scam. Wolfe is said to have been anguished at the prospect of being forced to testify against his old friends and colleagues. When told in 1995 that he also potentially faced arrest, he committed suicide by shooting himself. Charges had never been pressed against him. He was 39 years old.
Edmund B. Wood (62) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
13 February 1820 — 7 October 1882.
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Like his leader, Sandfield Macdonald, Wood ran as a Conservative provincially but as a Liberal federally.
John W. Woolf (80) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
27 November 1869 — 22 February 1950.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Woolf was absent from the Alberta legislature beginning in late 1911 and resigned in April 1912 to return permanently to the United States. His son believed that his father was driven out by a Protestant minister in Cardston who was investigating and bringing to the attention of the authorities violations of Canada's anti-polygamy laws. His brother Martin won his seat in a by-election on May 27, 1912.
Gordon S.D. Wright (63) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
28 June 1927 — 18 October 1990.
Died in office.
Times presented: 7;   Times elected: 2
Wright, an Alberta New Democrat, only got elected on his sixth attempt in 1986. An early general election was called less than three years later and he got re-elected, but he died a year and a half later of pancreatic cancer, aged 63.
W.P. Percy Wright (83) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
19 March 1909 — 1 September 1992.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Imagine giving up the seat you just won four months earlier for a minister who lost his seat during the general election, and then that guy loses the resulting by-election! That sums up Wright's political life...
J. Edward (Ned) Wyatt (71) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
24 September 1860 — 4 May 1932.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 2
While in the Prince Edward Island legislature at the beginning of the 20th century, Wyatt supported a bill to allow women to study law. His daughter Wanda was the first female law student in the province, and he sponsored her application to law school.
Kathleen O. Wynne (70) years old as of today. This person was born on
21 May 1953 — .
Times presented: 5;   Times elected: 5
Wynne was Ontario's first female premier and the first openly gay premier in Canada.

Y

Tany Yao (±53) years old as of today. This person's estimated date of birth is
c. 1971 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
Yao was one of the Alberta United Conservative MLAs who travelled abroad (to Mexico) at the end of 2020, while Albertans were required to avoid non-essential travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawrence R. Yew (56) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
17 January 1942 — 18 April 1998.
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 1
Yew was Saskatchewan's first indigenous MLA. He represented Cumberland from 1982 to 1986 and did not offer for a second term.
Frederick T.B. Young (66) years old at time of death. Person's dates of birth and death?
26 August 1873 — 19 April 1940.
Died in office.
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 2
A New Brunswick Liberal MLA, Young had been widowed twice and had only been married to his third wife for six months at the time of his death. He died in Fredericton while attending a session of the assembly.

Z

Salma Zahid (53) years old as of today. This person was born on
26 May 1970 — .
In office.
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 3
In May 2018, Zahid , an Ontario Liberal, became the first MP to wear a hijab in the House of Commons. She said she did so for personal reasons while recovering from chemotherapy treatment, but also because she had grown closer to her Islamic faith while facing cancer.
Robert L. Zambito . The date of birth for this person is unknown
?? — .
Times presented: 1;   Times elected: 0
Zambito has only been elected as a municipal councillor (for the city of Saint-Leonard from 1986 to 2001, before its amalgamation with Montreal, and for the city of Montréal from 2001 to 2013). However, he ran without success not only for the Québec National Assembly in 1985, but also for the Italian Senate in 2006 and the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 2013.
Paul Zed (67) years old as of today. This person was born on
31 December 1956 — .
Times presented: 6;   Times elected: 3
Since its creation in 1917, the New Brunswick federal riding of Fundy—Royal has been solidly Conservative — except in 1993, when the Liberal Zed won it, and in 2015 when another Liberal, Alaina Lockhart, won it. Both times, the Conservatives were the defeated incumbent government that had become deeply unpopular.
Edward J. Ziemba (91) years old as of today. This person was born on
2 May 1932 — .
Times presented: 3;   Times elected: 2
In the 1950s, Ziemba adopted the name Eddie John Harris, arguing, "It was a good way to do business, to adopt an anglicized name." This fact only came to light after he had been elected to the Ontario legislature, representing the NDP.
Above Znoneofthe (54) years old as of today. This person was born on
28 June 1969 — .
Times presented: 11;   Times elected: 0
The man formerly known as Sheldon Bergson changed his name to "Above Znoneofthe" with a silent "Z" so that his name would be placed last on alphabetical ballots (hence reflecting the idea of voting for None of the Above) — as long, of course, that he doesn't find himself running against someone named Zuk or Zwicker.


© 2019, 2024 :: PoliCan.ca (Maurice Y. Michaud)
Pub.: 18 Jun 2022 20:14
Rev.: 29 Mar 2024 09:14 (but data presented dynamically)