by Maurice Y. Michaud (he/him)
Maybe it’s just me. Or maybe not.
Even when I was young, I didn’t think of 20, 30 or 40 years ago as being far back in time. Of course, I suppose it depends on what we’re talking about. If we’re talking about that teal shirt I used to wear back in the 1990s and assumed I had long left behind in one of my moves but I found the other day in my cedar chest that I rarely open, then yes, I’m ready to call it that old thing. But if we’re talking about history, 40 years ago is a blip in time. That said, when I realize that “40 years ago” means 1985, then I’m likely to start feeling a bit faint.
Perhaps because I compiled all the Canadian election results since 1867, the year 1968 doesn’t seem that far back. But then it dawned on me. Given that, in 1968, one still had to be 21 years old to vote or run for office, the youngest person whose name would have been on a ballot would be 78 years old today. And given that the average age of those who were elected to Parliament that year was 46, that would mean that they would be on average 103 years old today. In other words, there’s more than a very good chance that most of those people are dead by now!
So that got me thinking. How far back in time must we go to still find at least one surviving former elected parliamentarian? I (and you) now have the answer in this table. Nunavut is excluded as its first assembly goes back only 26 years. As of September 2025, there are still some members who were elected as CCF, which was replaced by the NDP in 1961 (or 64 years ago), or as Alberta Social Credit, whose last four members were elected in 1979 (or 46 years ago).
| Legend } | PAR Party at first election ⊕ Alive: 27 (m: 25; f:: 2) Legislature (Current/Oldest) Ages are in red when the person’s precise date of birth is unknown. |
Age1 = Current age Age2 = Age at the time G = General Election B = By-Election |
|||||||
| Jurisdiction | Legislature | Who | Age | Election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CA |  |
45 (2025–2029) |
24 (1958–1962) |
PCC
PCC
|
94
98
|
27
31
|
1958-03-31 G
1958-03-31 G
|
|
| 9 | AB |  |
31 (2023–2027) |
15 (1963–1967) |
SCA
|
89
|
27
|
1963-06-17 G
|
|
| 8 | BC |  |
43 (2024–2028) |
29 (1969–1972) |
BCSC
|
93
|
37
|
1969-08-27 G
|
|
| 11 | MB |  |
43 (2023–2027) |
25 (1958–1959) |
CCF
|
89
|
22
|
1958-06-16 G
|
|
| 3 | NB |  |
61 (2024–2028) |
46 (1967–1970) |
NBLP
NBLP
NBLP
NBLP
PCNB
|
83
83
91
93
89
|
25
25
33
36
31
|
1967-10-13 G
1967-10-13 G
1967-10-13 G
1969-06-16 B
1967-10-13 G
|
|
| 7 | NL |  |
50 (2021–2025) |
34 (1966–1971) |
LPN
LPN
LPN
|
92
83
87
|
33
24
28
|
1966-09-08 G
1966-09-08 G
1966-09-08 G
|
|
| 2 | NS |  |
65 (2024–2028) |
49 (1967–1970) |
NSPC
NSPC
|
82
93
|
25
34
|
1969-02-11 B
1967-05-30 G
|
|
| 14 | NT |  |
20 (2023–2027) |
7 (1970–1975) |
IND
IND
IND
IND
|
91
85
81
81
|
36
30
26
27
|
1970-12-21 G
1970-12-21 G
1970-12-21 G
1970-12-21 G
|
|
| 6 | ON |  |
44 (2025–2029) |
26 (1959–1963) |
LPO
|
97
|
33
|
1962-01-18 B
|
|
| 4 | PE |  |
67 (2023–2027) |
50 (1962–1966) |
LPPE
|
91
|
31
|
1965-02-09 B
|
|
| 5 | QC |  |
43 (2022–2026) |
26 (1960–1962) |
QLP
QLP
|
100
97
|
35
32
|
1960-06-22 G
1960-06-22 G
|
|
| 10 | SK |  |
30 (2024–2028) |
13 (1956–1960) |
CCF
|
93
|
24
|
1956-06-20 G
|
|
| 12 | YT |  |
35 (2021–2025) |
23 (1974–1978) |
IND
IND
IND
|
77
83
83
|
26
32
32
|
1974-10-07 G
1974-10-07 G
1974-10-07 G
|
|
| For each parliament, there is no surviving elected member in assemblies prior to the one shown here. | |||||||||
