Fred Gardiner

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Fred Gardiner : biography

January 21, 1895 – August 22, 1983

Frederick Goldwin Gardiner, QC, LL.D (21 January 1895 – 22 August 1983) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and businessman. He was the first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto council, the governing body for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, from 1953 to 1961. As Metro Chairman, Gardiner, nicknamed "Big Daddy", was a staunch advocate of growth and expansion and was responsible for many capital works projects, including the Gardiner Expressway (named for him) and the Don Valley Parkway.

Gardiner, after graduating first in his law class, had a very successful law career. He was a top criminal lawyer who commanded high fees. In business, he invested wisely and at one time was the largest share-holder in the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He was involved in numerous other businesses, including consumer credit, sawmills, manufacturing and mining.

Gardiner was a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in both federal and provincial politics, organizing conventions and developing policy in the 1930s and 1940s. He was instrumental in the updating of the Conservative Party as it was then known to the Progressive Conservative Party to acknowledge its change in policy to incorporate progressive values. He was a close adviser to Ontario PC premiers George Drew and Leslie Frost.

Entry into politics

It was after the provincial election of 1934, when the Conservatives were defeated, that Gardiner started to become more involved in politics in the Conservative party, and politics in Forest Hill, then a small and affluent suburb of Toronto. He joined the Conservative Businessman’s Association in 1934. He first ran for deputy reeve of Forest Hill Village council in 1935. In his first campaign he spent $800, when candidates normally spent $200. He went door-to-door canvassing and received the endorsement of past reeve Andrew Hazlett. A Jewish car dealer named Ben Sadowski, whom Gardiner had befriended at Parkdale and intervened in a fight, canvassed for Gardiner among Jewish families of the area. Gardiner won the post by 1,211 to his challenger’s 919 votes.Colton, pp. 23–24 Gardiner would go on to serve as reeve of the Village of Forest Hill for twelve years. In 1946, his final year as reeve, Gardiner was also Warden of the County of York, a title similar in some respects to his later chairmanship of Metropolitan Toronto.

Gardiner’s largest role in the Conservative Party would be in reforming the party’s policies to be more progressive. Gardiner was instrumental in the 1942 Port Hope policy conference, chairing the discussions of the labour committee. Gardiner came out in favour of legal safeguards for collective bargaining and uniform and general standards in wages and working conditions, including support for a ‘closed shop’ in collective agreements. The Port Hope policies were adopted at the Winnipeg national leadership convention in Winnipeg in December 1942, giving the party a systematically drafted platform. Gardiner again chaired the labour committee and acted in favour of reformed social security, as lieutenant of the resolution and policy committee. At the convention, the party would choose John Bracken as leader, and change its name to the Progressive Conservative Party.Colton, pp. 32–33

Gardiner would continue his work inside the PC party for the rest of the 1940s, chairing the resolution and policy committee himself at the 1948 federal leadership convention. Gardiner turned down several chances to run provincially and federally. Gardiner chose instead to concentrate on his own career in business. "There is nothing you can do in politics that makes the cash register ring." Gardiner was even considered to run for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (and therefore provincial premier) in 1948, but chose to support Leslie Frost instead. Gardiner would become one of Frost’s closest political confidantes and advisers.Colton, pp. 36–37

Famous quotes

Gardiner was well-practiced as a speech-maker for the Conservatives, in his summations as a lawyer, and in Metro Toronto business. He often expressed his beliefs in turns of phrases: