Arthur Kenneth Meen (March 17, 1924 – March 2, 2008) was a politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

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from 1967 to 1977 who represented the

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riding of

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. He served in the cabinet of the government of

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

Background

Meen was born in

in 1924. He was educated as a lawyer. He worked for Gulf Oil Ltd. and was a partner in his own law firm, Fraser and Meen. In 1951, he married Shirley Code. They raised three daughters together. He died at Woodhaven Long Term Care

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

in 2008.

Politics

In the 1967 provincial election he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Toronto riding of

. He defeated

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candidate Peter Lowry by 4,402 votes. In 1971 he faced a challenge by popular

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

mayor

True Davidson Jean Gertrude "True" Davidson, CM (19 April 1901 – 18 September 1978), was a Canadian politician, teacher, and writer. She was the first mayor of the Borough of East York, Ontario, and she was one of Metropolitan Toronto's most colourful polit ...

but easily defeated her by 7,544 votes. He was also re-elected in 1975. In February 1974, Meen was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Revenue in the government of

. In February 1977, he was reassigned as Minister of Correctional Services. In April 1977, he announced his intention to retire from politics and did not run in the June election. He said in his resignation letter that after 10 years in the legislature he was 'eager to explore fresh opportunities' while he was still in good health.

Cabinet positions

Later life

In 1980, Meen was appointed a provincial court judge by

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. In 1985, he sparked controversy by dismissing trespassing charges laid against protesters outside

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

clinic in Toronto. He said in his judgment, "There is considerable evidence that life begins at the moment of conception." Frequently praising the defendants in court he went further to say, "the clinic was operating outside the law, and as such was therefore murder." Meen felt the protesters were not guilty because they were acting to prevent a bigger crime.

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MPP

Evelyn Gigantes Evelyn Adelaide Gigantes (born 1 November 1942) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on three occasions between 1975 and 1995, and was a prominent cabinet m ...

criticized Meen's decision and called for the judge to be censured.

Ian Scott refused to do so saying that Meen's decision was irrelevant to the abortion debate.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meen, Arthur 1924 births 2008 deaths Judges in Ontario Lawyers in Ontario Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs