George James McIlraith, (July 29, 1908 – August 19, 1992) was a lawyer and

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 ...

Parliamentarian. The son of James McIlraith and Kate McLeod, he was educated at Osgoode Hall and practised law in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. In 1935, he married Margaret Summers. McIlraith was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 1940 federal election as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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 of ...

for

Ottawa West Ottawa West was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1997 and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1908 to 1926 and from 1955 to 1999. It cover ...

. He was subsequently re-elected on nine successive occasions. McIlraith joined the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

when the Liberals formed government following the 1963 federal election as Minister of Transport. From 1964 until 1967, he was

Government House Leader The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Canadian cabinet, Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Com ...

in charge of the Pearson

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

's parliamentary strategy for much of its tenure, including during the Great Flag Debate and parliamentary debates on the introduction of Medicare. He also served as Pearson's Minister of Public Works from 1965 on, and was also

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

's first public works minister. He served as

Solicitor-General of Canada The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice. It was n ...

from 1968 until 1970 under Trudeau, who appointed him to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

in 1972. The George McIlraith Bridge over the

Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writin ...

is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIlraith, George 1908 births 1992 deaths Lawyers in Ontario Canadian King's Counsel Canadian Ministers of Transport Canadian Presbyterians Canadian senators from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Ottawa 20th-century Canadian lawyers Solicitors General of Canada