John George Lynch-Staunton (June 19, 1930 – August 17, 2012) 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 ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, who served as interim leader of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

, from December 2003 to March 2004. He represented the Senate division of Grandville, Quebec.

Early years/education

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Lynch-Staunton was educated at Collège Stanislas and

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf , motto_translation = I chose the path of truth , established = , type = Private secondary school and Collegiate , religious_affiliation = Non-denominational, formerly Jesuit , endowment = , dean ...

in Montreal. He obtained a

B.Sc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Foreign Service from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1953, and did graduate work towards a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Canadian History at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, from 1953 to 1955.

Family

Lynch-Staunton married Juliana de Kuyper in 1958. The couple had five children: Mark (d: 2013), Peter (d: 2015), Gabrielle, Sophie and Sean. Lynch-Staunton has 9 grandchildren: Caitlin, Harrison, Connor, Juliana, Aidan, Jaryd, Monique, Jack, Matthew and Tyce (b: 2016).

City councillor

Lynch-Staunton was elected to the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

in 1960. He represented the district of

Côte-des-Neiges Côte-des-Neiges (, ) is a neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at the geographic centre of the Island of Montreal on the western slope of Mount Royal and is part of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Côt ...

and was a member of

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Jean Drapeau's Parti civique de Montréal. He was re-elected in 1962, 1966 and 1970. Mayor Drapeau appointed him to the executive committee as vice chairman. In 1974 he lost his bid for re-election to

Nick Auf der Maur Nick Erik Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998)Downey, Donn. ''Montreal columnist chronicled cancer fight'', A1. '' The Globe and Mail'', April 9, 1998. was a Canadian journalist, politician and "man about town" boulevardier in Montre ...

as the '' Rassemblement des citoyens et citoyennes de Montréal (RCM)'' achieved its first political breakthrough.

Provincial politics

Lynch-Staunton ran as a Union Nationale candidate for a provincial

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in the district of

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ( en, Our Lady of Grace), also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, ...

in 1968. He was defeated by

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 ...

candidate

William Tetley William Tetley (February 10, 1927 – July 1, 2014) was a lawyer and professor of law at McGill University in Montreal, the visiting professor of Maritime and Commercial Law at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a former member o ...

Senator

Lynch-Staunton was appointed to the Senate on the recommendation of

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 is not ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

on September 23, 1990. The following year, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, and he became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in December 1993 following the

victory in that year's general election. From December 8, 2003, with the merger of the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

and the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...

ratified by both parties, he served as interim leader of the new

until the election of

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

in March 2004. "Lynch-Staunton's high-road leadership of a Senate majority in opposition to an elected majority government in the Commons is a model for students of Parliament – and for future reference when history repeats itself". He remained Leader of the Opposition in the Senate until September 30, 2004, and retired from Parliament when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 on June 19, 2005.

Retirement

Lynch-Staunton won a council seat in Stanstead in the Quebec municipal elections on November 1, 2009.Stanstead council seat win in 2009
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Death

Lynch-Staunton died on August 17, 2012, following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

while he was at a family reunion in

Pincher Creek Pincher Creek is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located immediately east of the Canadian Rockies, west of Lethbridge and south of Calgary. History For centuries before European settlers reached this area and inhabited it, Indigen ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

; he was 82 years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch-Staunton, John 1930 births 2012 deaths Canadian senators from Quebec Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni Conservative Party of Canada senators Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada Montreal city councillors Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Anglophone Quebec people Georgetown University alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni Quebec people of Irish descent 21st-century Canadian politicians