Allan Lawrence (politician)

The Honourable Allan Frederick Lawrence
Member of Parliament for Durham—Northumberland
In office 1979–1988
Preceded by	New riding
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Member of Parliament for Northumberland—Durham
In office 1972–1979
Preceded by	Russell Honey
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Ontario MPP
In office 1958–1972
Preceded by	Dana Porter
Succeeded by	Margaret Campbell
Constituency	St. George
Personal details
Born	November 8, 1925 Toronto, Ontario
Died	September 6, 2008 (aged 82) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Profession	Lawyer

Allan Frederick Lawrence, PC, QC (November 8, 1925 – September 6, 2008) was a Canadian politician and served as both a provincial and federal cabinet minister.

Provincial political career

After practicing as a lawyer, Lawrence became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. His membership started when he won a 1958 provincial by-election in the downtown Toronto riding of St. George for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.^[1] In 1968, Premier John Robarts brought him into cabinet as Minister of Mines.

In 1971, he ran to succeed Robarts as party leader at the PC Party leadership convention. Lawrence lost to Bill Davis by 44 votes on the fourth ballot. Davis reunited the Tory party by inviting many of Lawrence's key workers, including Hugh Segal and Norman K. Atkins, onto his team to create the Big Blue Machine that helped the Tories remain in power for a further fourteen years.

Davis appointed Lawrence as his Attorney-General in 1971.^[2] In 1972, Lawrence resigned his seat in the Ontario legislature in order to enter federal politics.

Cabinet positions

Federal politics

Lawrence was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1972 federal election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the rural Ontario riding of Northumberland—Durham.^[3] He served as an MP throughout the decade.

When the Tories won the 1979 federal election, Prime Minister Joe Clark appointed Lawrence to the Cabinet as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Solicitor-General. The Clark government fell in a Motion of No Confidence after several months and was defeated in the 1980 election. Lawrence was re-elected in his riding, and returned to the Opposition benches.^[4]

He ran again in the 1984 election but, despite the Conservative victory that year, was passed over for a cabinet appointment by Brian Mulroney.^[5] Lawrence retired from politics at the 1988 election.

Later life

Lawrence retired to the small Ontario town of Cobourg with his wife Moira. He died on September 6, 2008 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He was 82 years old.

References

Notes

1. Was just Minister of Mines until June 26, 1970 when he was made Minister of Mines and Northern Affairs.

Citations

1. Canadian Press (May 13, 1958). "Conservatives sweep All Four By-elections". Globe and Mail (Toronto). p. 1.
2. Manthorpe, Jonathan; Slinger, John (March 2, 1971). "Changes in policies promised: Davis priorities to include environment and jobless". The Globe and Mail. p. 1.
3. "How the 1,117 candidates fared across Canada". The Toronto Star. October 31, 1972. p. 15.
4. "Federal general election results listed riding-by-riding". The Ottawa Citizen. February 19, 1987. pp. 29–30.
5. "How Canada voted". The Globe and Mail. September 5, 1984. pp. 14–15.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History

• Allan Lawrence (politician) – Parliament of Canada biography