Lorne Henderson (October 31, 1920 – February 7, 2002) 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 served in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1963 to 1985, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the government of William Davis. Henderson was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Background

He was born in

Enniskillen, Ontario Enniskillen is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, within Lambton County. It is located at the intersection of Highway 21 (Oil Heritage Road) and Rokeby Line. The economy of the township is based on agriculture. It was named after Sir ...

and received a grade eight education in the area. Henderson worked as a hog farmer before entering political life.

Politics

He was a member of the Enniskillen council from 1946 to 1949, deputy reeve from 1950 to 1951, and reeve from 1952 to 1957. His career in municipal politics culminated when he was named Warden of

Lambton County Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cla ...

in 1957. Henderson was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1963 provincial election, defeating

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 ...

candidate Russell Watson by 874 votes in

Lambton East Lambton East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1935. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from Lambton riding. The East Riding of the county of Lambton was ...

. He served as a backbench supporter of

John Robarts John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Early life Roba ...

's government, and initially continued in this role when Davis succeeded Robarts as

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

in 1971. He was re-elected with an increased majority in the elections of

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, and with a reduced majority in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. He was appointed to cabinet on October 7, 1975 as a

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

responsible for Housing, and was promoted to Chairman of Cabinet on February 3, 1977. Re-elected again in the 1977 election, he appointed as Minister of Government Services on January 21, 1978, and as Minister of Agriculture and Food on August 30, 1979. Henderson was most proud of his work in the Agriculture portfolio, although reviews from the farming community and his department staff were often less than flattering. He was re-elected with a landslide majority in the 1981 election, and was named Provincial Secretary for Resource Development on February 13, 1982. He resigned from cabinet entirely on July 6, 1983. Henderson supported

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...

to succeed Davis as party leader in 1985, and did not campaign in that year's election. Henderson was notorious for both his poor grammar and his ability to win government patronage. When the Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Petrolia Hospital in his constituency received a $160,000 donation in 1975, Henderson delivered it with the line, "Me and the premier brung you this cheque". He also possessed a remarkable ability to remember people's names after having only met them once and would often set-up appointments on Saturday afternoons with constituents.

Cabinet posts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Lorne 1920 births 2002 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs