Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of my Bloc Quebecois colleagues following the passing of Frank McGee, a former member of parliament and federal Conservative minister who died on Sunday, April 4, at the age of 73.
Mr. McGee was born in Ottawa on March 3, 1926 and studied journalism at Carleton College, as the university was called in those days. He enlisted at the age of 17 and served during World War II from 1943 to 1945.
In the fifties Mr. McGee settled in Toronto. He worked for a while at Sears as a purchasing manager.
His political career began in 1957 when he was elected for the first time in the riding of York—Scarborough, which was essentially a rural constituency and the third largest riding in the country. Politics was probably in his blood because his grandfathers were both federal members of parliament.
Mr. McGee was re-elected in 1958 with a majority of 35,377 votes, then the largest majority in a federal election. He represented the riding of York—Scarborough again in 1962, in a minority government, and was appointed minister.
Mr. McGee's greatest contribution as a parliamentarian was undoubtedly the private member's bill he tabled in 1960 to abolish the death penalty. Private member's bills rarely become law in Canada, but that bill led to amendments to the Criminal Code that abolished the death penalty for all but a few crimes. The only people still facing the death penalty were those guilty of homicide when the victim was either a police officer or a prison guard.
Mr. McGee later joined the Toronto Star as a reporter specializing in political issues, and he hosted a television series called The Sixties on the CBC network.
Later on, he worked in public relations. He was appointed to the Security Intelligence Review Committee on which he sat from 1984 to 1989. Appointed judge at Toronto's citizenship court in 1990, he held this position until 1996.
On behalf of my Bloc Quebecois colleagues I wish to offer my most sincere condolences to his family, his relatives and his many friends.