Herb Gray

Herb Gray (2008)

Bronze statue by sculptor Christopher Rees in Gray's birth town of Windsor

Herbert Eser "Herb" Gray PC CC QC (born May 25, 1931 in Windsor , Ontario ; † April 21, 2014 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian lawyer and politician of the Liberal Party of Canada , who was a member of the House of Commons for 39 years and was a minister several times and was at times Vice Prime Minister and most recently Chancellor of Carleton University .

Life

Lawyer, Member of the House of Commons and Minister

After attending the Kennedy Collegiate Institute , Gray completed a degree in economics at McGill University in Montreal , from which he graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.). He then completed a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). After completing his studies, he took up a position as a lawyer .

In the general election on June 18, 1962 , Gray was elected as a candidate of the Liberal Party for the first time as a member of the House of Representatives and belonged to this for more than 39 years until his resignation on January 15, 2002, initially as a representative of the constituency of Essex West and last since the general election on June 25, 1968 for the constituency of Windsor West . At the beginning of his parliamentary activity he was from January 18, 1966 to April 23, 1968 Chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance, Trade and Economic Affairs, and on August 30, 1968 took over his first government office as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

Subsequently, he was appointed on October 20, 1969 by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as Minister without Portfolio for the first time in the 20th Canadian Cabinet , in which he took over the office of Minister for National Income on September 24, 1970. As part of a renewed government reshuffle, Gray took over the office of Minister for Consumer and Corporate Affairs on November 27, 1972 and held this ministerial office until August 7, 1974.

After holding no government office for several years, Gray was appointed by Prime Minister Trudeau to the 22nd Government of Canada on March 3, 1980 , first as Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce and then from January 12 to September 29, 1982 as Minister for regional economic expansion. He then became President of the Treasury on September 30, 1982 and held this position from June 30 to September 16, 1984 in the short-lived 23rd government of Canada formed by Trudeau's successor, John Turner . Most recently he was the responsible regional minister in the cabinet for the province of Ontario between 1981 and 1984.

Group Chairman and Vice Prime Minister

After the Liberal Party's defeat in the general election of September 4, 1984 , Gray was on September 18, 1984 as chairman of the parliamentary group of the Liberal Party of the opposition leader in the House of Commons (Opposition House Leader) and held this position until February 7, 1990. Most recently he was during this period from January 1, 1989 to February 7, 1990, Vice-Chairman of the Liberal Party and thus deputy to party chairman John Turner. After Turner resigned as party chairman, he became executive leader of the opposition on February 8, 1990, and retained this position until he was replaced by Jean Chrétien on December 20, 1990.

After he was spokesman for the Liberal Opposition for finance in the House of Commons between January 1991 and November 1993, Gray was again chairman of the parliamentary group after the Liberal Party's victory in the general election of October 25, 1993 and as such was chairman of the ruling party until April 27, 1997 in the house (Leader of the Government in the house of Commons) . At the same time he was from Jean Chrétien, who became the new Prime Minister after the election success and formed the 26th cabinet of Canada , initially until June 10, 1997 Solicitor General .

Subsequently, Gray, who was again responsible regional minister for the province of Ontario between November 1993 and 2003, succeeded Sheila Copps from June 11, 1997 until his replacement by John Manley on January 14, 2002, Vice Prime Minister in Chrétien's government. In addition, he served from March 12, 1998 to January 14, 2002 as Minister responsible for the Millennium Office of Canada. Between 1997 and 2002 was again vice-chairman of the Liberal Party.

On January 15, 2002 he resigned his government offices and the lower house mandate and became chairman of the Canadian representation of the International Joint Commission, a bi-national organization of the USA and Canada concerning the borders and border waters between the two states.

Due to its decades-long political and legal merits Gray was, who is also a Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) honoris causa , has for the May 8, 2003 Companion of the Order of Canada appointed. In 2004 he also became an Honorary Colonel of the 21st Windsor Service Battalion.

Since 2008 he has succeeded Marc Garneau as Chancellor of Carleton University.

Publications

• Foreign direct investment in Canada , Ottawa, Information Canada, 1972
• Investissements étrangers directs au Canada , Ottawa, Information Canada, 1972
• Views on the Arab boycott and its implications for Canada , Associate Editors Phil Baum and Howard Stanislawski, Ottawa, 1976

Web links

Commons : Herb Gray  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on Parliament's homepage
• Order of Canada
• Herb Gray ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved November 20, 2019.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Herb Gray, former deputy prime minister, dead at 82