Donald Roy Irvine (January 20, 1920 – October 1, 1994) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
politician, who served in the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1977 as a
Progressive Conservative member. He was a cabinet member for Premier
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
Irvine was born on a farm in eastern Ontario, the youngest of seven children. He worked on the farm during his youth, and after high school he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. After the war, he and his brother-in-law started a grocery store which eventually turned into a chain of six grocery stores. He sold those grocery stores to the large food chain of
Loeb, being able to retire in a very financially sound position at 36. He was married (Eleanor) and had one son (Paul) and one daughter (Jane).
Politics
Irvine served on the town council of
Prescott, including three terms as mayor. Of his service, the Ottawa Citizen, on the eve of the provincial election in 1971, said, "Most townspeople consider Mr Irvine's three terms as one of the best things that ever happened to them."
Irvine was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the
1971 provincial election in the riding of
Grenville—Dundas
Grenville—Dundas was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1925 from parts of Dundas and Grenville ridings.
It c ...
replacing the retiring
Fred Cass
Frederick McIntosh Cass Queen's Counsel, Q.C., Canadian Forces' Decoration, C.D. ( August 5, 1913 – November 25, 2000) was a Canadian politician who served as both Attorney-General of Ontario and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of On ...
.
Irvine became
parliamentary assistant
In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...
to Treasurer
John White in 1972. In February 1974 he was appointed as
Minister without portfolio responsible for Municipal Affairs.
In October 1974 he was appointed as
Minister of Housing replacing
Sid Handleman
Sidney Bernard Handleman (March 20, 1921 – June 23, 1988) was a Canadian politician who represented Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1980 as a Progressive Conservative member.
Background
Handleman was born in Tor ...
who had suffered a heart attack.
In 1975 he was shuffled to the
Provincial Secretary for Resource Development.
He continued to serve in cabinet until his retirement in 1977.
Cabinet posts
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Donald Roy
1920 births
1994 deaths
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
Members of the Executive Council of Ontario