Arthur Laing

Arthur Laing PC (born September 9, 1904 in Eburne, British Columbia , † February 13, 1975 ) was a Canadian economic manager , entrepreneur and politician of the Liberal Party , who was both a member of the lower house and a member of the Senate and several times a minister.

Life

After attending school, Laing completed a degree in agricultural sciences , which he completed with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA). He then worked as a manager and entrepreneur in the private sector.

In the general election of June 27, 1949 , he was elected as a candidate of the Liberal Party for the first time as a member of the lower house and represented the constituency of Vancouver South in this until his resignation in 1953 . During this time he was also a member of several Standing Committees of the House of Commons.

After he was elected on May 2, 1953 to succeed Byron Ingemar Johnson as chairman of the Liberal Party in the province of British Columbia , he led his party in the election to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on June 9, 1953. Although he was himself in the constituency of Vancouver -Point Gray was elected member of the legislative assembly, his party lost two more seats and from then on was represented by only four members in this provincial parliament. In the election for the legislative assembly on September 19, 1956, he lost his own mandate and the party was only represented by two members. Due to the poor election results, he finally resigned on April 9, 1959 from the office of chairman of the Liberal Party of British Columbia, whereupon Ray Perrault was his successor.

In the general election of June 18, 1962 , Laing was finally re-elected as a member of the House of Commons, where he again represented the constituency of Vancouver South until September 1, 1972 .

On April 22, 1963, Prime Minister Lester Pearson appointed him Minister for Northern Affairs and Natural Resources to Canada's 19th Cabinet . As part of a cabinet reshuffle, he took over the office of Minister for Indian Affairs and Northern Development on October 1, 1966, and also retained this office in the 20th Government of Canada formed by Pearson's successor as Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau , on April 20, 1968 . In another cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Minister for Public Works by Trudeau on July 6, 1968, before he was finally Minister for Veterans Affairs in the 20th Cabinet from January 28 to November 26, 1972.

After leaving the House of Commons, he became a member of the Senate on September 1, 1972 at the proposal of Prime Minister Trudeau and represented the Senate District of Vancouver South until his death on February 13, 1975 .

The Arthur Laing Bridge , which connects Vancouver with Sea Island , on which the Vancouver International Airport is located, was named in his honor . This bridge, which was opened to traffic on May 15, 1976, thus relieves the Oak Street Bridge .

Web links

• Entry on Parliament's homepage