Walter David Baker, (August 22, 1930 – November 13, 1983) 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 ...

parliamentarian and lawyer. Baker is best known for having been

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

during the short-lived minority government of

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

. He received much of the popular blame for the defeat of the government in a

Motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

on December 13, 1979 with the claim that the government fell because "Walter Baker couldn't count". However, observers pointed out that targeting Baker as the scapegoat was unfair as he was House Leader, not Party Whip. The defeat was the result of the Clark government's decision to alienate the six

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

Members 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 ...

by refusing to accord them official party status as well as Clark's view that he could "govern as if" he had a majority government. Baker was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1972 election as the Progressive Conservative

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 ...

for Grenville—Carleton (later renamed Nepean—Carleton) and was re-elected in the 1974,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

and 1980 elections. He served as both Government House Leader and

Minister of National Revenue The minister of national revenue (french: ministre du revenu national) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), as well as the administration of taxation law and collection. T ...

during the Clark government. He served as Opposition House Leader from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1981. In government, Baker introduced the first ever Access to Information Bill which died on the order paper with the Tory government. However, much of Baker's bill became part of the eventual ''

Access to Information Act Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO s ...

'' that was introduced by Liberal Solicitor-General

Francis Fox Francis Fox (born December 2, 1939) is a former member of the Senate of Canada, Canadian Cabinet minister, and Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, and thus was a senior aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin. He also worked as ...

in 1983 and passed by parliament into law

He was one of the founding partners of the law firm Bell Baker LLP located in Ottawa, Ontario. Baker died at the age of 53. A week after his death, a recreational center in Barrhaven, Ottawa, Ontario was named after him, the South Nepean Centre became the

Walter Baker Sports Centre Walter Baker Sports Centre is located in Barrhaven a suburb in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in the former City of Nepean at 100 Malvern Drive. Walter Baker has been attached to John McCrae Secondary School since the school was built in 1999. The ce ...

Electoral record

References

There goes another one
by Pat MacAdam, '' Ottawa Sun'', May 22, 2005

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Walter 1930 births 1983 deaths Carleton University alumni Lawyers in Ontario Members of the 21st Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni