Heward Grafftey

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William Heward Grafftey , PC (born August 5, 1928 in Montreal , † February 11, 2010 ) was a Canadian politician .

biography

After attending school, he first studied political science and history at Mount Allison University and completed this course with a Bachelor of Arts (BA). He then completed postgraduate studies in civil law at McGill University , which he completed with a Bachelor of Cicil Law (BCL). After his admission to the Québec Bar Association, he practiced law.

Grafftey, nicknamed "The Gnome from Brome" because of his small size and constituency, began his political career in the 1958 election with the first election to the House of Commons . There he represented the interests of the constituency of Brome-Missisquoui for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) . Between 1962 and 1963 he was Parliamentary Secretary in the Treasury in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker . In the general election in 1968 , he lost his constituency because of the national success of Pierre Trudeau's Liberal Party .

In the 1972 election , however, Grafftey succeeded in being re-elected as a representative of the Brome-Missisquoui constituency . In the government of then Prime Minister Joe Clark , he was Minister of State for Social Programs from June to October 1979 and Minister of State for Science and Technology from October 1979 to March 1980. After an internal party dispute with Clark, however, he lost his mandate again in the 1980 election to the House of Commons . Despite the tension with Clark, he supported him in 1983 in his candidacy for re-election as chairman of the PC. However, after Clark succumbed to his inner-party rival Brian Mulroney , Grafftey retired from politics for almost twenty years and devoted himself to his work as a businessman .

In 2000 he ran again for the PC in the lower house election, but suffered an election defeat. In 2002 he was one of the first to call for Joe Clark to step down as chairman of the Progressive Conservative Party, after Clark held that position again since 1998. In 2003 he himself announced his candidacy for the office of chairman of the PC, but withdrew it in May 2003 for health reasons.

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personal data
SURNAME Grafftey, Heward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grafftey, William Heward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 2010