Thomas Garfield "Gar" Knutson, (born May 4, 1956) is a lawyer and former member of the
Parliament of Canada, as well as a former
Cabinet Minister in the Government of Canada.
Gar Knutson holds a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...
(MBA) degree from the
Richard Ivey School of Business
Ivey Business School is a constituent unit of the University of Western Ontario, located in London, Ontario, Canada. Ivey offers full-time undergraduate (HBA), MBA, MSc, MFE and PhD programs and also maintains two teaching facilities in Toronto ...
at the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...
, as well as a B.A. in History. Following University, Gar graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
(LL.B) degree from the
University of Windsor
, mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge
, established =
, academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada
, former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963)
, type = Public universi ...
. He attended high school at the
Jesuit Brebeuf College School
Brebeuf College School (Brebeuf College, BCS, or Brebeuf) is a publicly funded Roman Catholic all-boys high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada endorsed by the Jesuits of Canada. Founded by the Jesuits in 1963, it is part of the Toronto Catholic Di ...
in Toronto.
In the
1993 federal election, he was elected to the
House of Commons of Canada as the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Elgin—Norfolk
Elgin (also known as Elgin—Norfolk) was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1997. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Elgin West and Nor ...
riding as a candidate representing the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. He was re-elected in the
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and
2000 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2000.
Africa
* 2000 Ethiopian general election
* 2000 Ghanaian presidential election
* 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election
* 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election
* 2000 Ivorian preside ...
to the re-organized riding of
Elgin—Middlesex—London
Elgin—Middlesex—London is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.
It was created in 1996 from Elgin—Norfolk, Lambton—Middlesex, and London—Middlesex r ...
.
He served as Parliamentary Secretary to
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Jean Chrétien from 2000 to 2002. In 2002, he was named Secretary of State for Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and served as Minister of State for International Trade from 2003 to 2004 under Prime Minister Paul Martin. Gar was defeated by the
Elgin-Middlesex-London Conservative candidate
Joe Preston in the
2004 election. Shortly afterwards, Knutson joined
Borden Ladner Gervais
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (abbreviated as BLG) is a leading, full-service law firm in Canada. With almost two hundred years of history going back to the 1823 founding of McMaster Gervais, it now has offices in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottaw ...
LLP, Canada's largest law firm, practicing in the area of government relations and public policy. Knutson spent 13 years at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, from 2005 to 2018, leaving to start his own boutique law firm
Knutson Law
Knutson attempted to stage a political comeback in the 2007 Federal Liberal nomination in the riding of
Ottawa—Orléans, but lost to former MP
Marc Godbout.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knutson, Gar
1956 births
Living people
Lawyers in Ontario
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Politicians from Toronto
University of Western Ontario alumni
University of Windsor alumni
Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry
Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry
University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni