Louis Maclean "Lou" Hodgson (March 21, 1936 – July 7, 2012) 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 was a Progressive Conservative member of 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 1967 who represented the eastern

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riding of

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Background

Hodgson was born in Victoria, Ontario. His father,

Clayton Hodgson Clayton Wesley Hodgson (20 March 1897 – 14 April 1970) was a Progressive Conservative party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Burnt River, Ontario and became a lumber merchant by career. He was first elected at the ...

, was a Progressive Conservative member of 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 ...

from 1945 to 1963. Prior to being elected, Hodgson was an officer in the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

and also worked for the Ontario department of Transport and as a salesman. He was married to Kleo McWatters and they raised a son and a daughter.

Politics

Hodgson ran in the 1963 provincial election as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the new riding of

. He defeated

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 Jack Drysdale by 1,704 votes. His brother Glen Hodgson also won a seat in the Caledon riding of Victoria. He served as a backbench supporter of the government 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 ...

. He was defeated in the 1967 election by Liberal candidate

Tim Reid Timothy Lee Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown ...

in an extremely close three-way race in which the margin was 216 votes and all three candidates were separated by less than half a percent of the total votes.

Later life

After the 1967 election, Hodgson retired from politics. During his time in office, he established a Young PC Club in his riding and one its first members,

Dennis Timbrell Dennis Roy Timbrell (born November 13, 1946) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1971 to 1987, and was a Cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank Mil ...

, went on to become a prominent Cabinet Minister in a future PC government. In the late 1960s, the government recruited Hodgson to establish the first drivers education programs in Ontario high schools. He died in Haliburton in 2012. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Haliburton, Ontario.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Louis M. 1936 births 2012 deaths People from Caledon, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs