Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of Her Majesty's Official Opposition to pay tribute to Frank McGee.
I am moved to have this opportunity to pay respects to Mr. Frank McGee and his family because Frank McGee played a role in my early years as a member of parliament. In fact, Frank McGee played a very important and deciding role in the lives of a lot of Progressive Conservative MPs in the 1972 general election.
I will elaborate. On the evening of the 1972 general election Conservative Leader Robert Stanfield went to sleep confident he was the prime minister elect of Canada with a seat count of 109 for the Tories and 107 for the Liberals. By morning the seat count was 108 to 108. The governor general could have asked Mr. Stanfield to form the government but was unable.
A judicial recount in Frank McGee's riding of York—Scarborough two weeks after the election determined that Mr. McGee had lost his seat by four votes. Pierre Trudeau stayed on as prime minister in a minority government, supported by David Lewis and the NDP.
Frank McGee was born in Ottawa in 1926 and was destined for politics from birth. Both his grandfathers were members of parliament, something very unique: John McGee had been a member of Sir John A. Macdonald's government and his maternal grandfather, Charles McCool, was also an MP. His great uncle was Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a Father of Confederation who was assassinated in Ottawa in 1868. Talk about a political pedigree. It showed. Frank McGee was a determined, enlightened and effective member of parliament.
His political career started in 1957 after completing university at St. Patrick's College in Ottawa, signing up for the air force and then marrying Moira O'Leary in 1951 and moving to Toronto. He was elected in 1957 in York—Scarborough, then Canada's third largest riding. Mr. McGee won in 1957 by 18,946 votes, a handsome victory to an individual widely acknowledged as a diligent and dedicated person who had been called to public life.
His majority was the largest ever recorded up to that time for a Conservative member of parliament. He had to go back to the polls in 1958 and won that time by 35,877 votes in the huge riding of York—Scarborough. In fact Frank's riding was bigger than the province of P.E.I.
Frank McGee is remembered by many for his private member's Bill C-6 which he introduced in 1960, calling for the abolition of capital punishment. This seminal work by Frank McGee resulted in changes to the Criminal Code of Canada that ended the death penalty for almost all crimes. It was a statement of the tenacity of Frank McGee who faced much derision by his own colleagues that were opposed to abolition. In fact, Frank McGee's family faced death threats during the debate of that bill. He stood tall, devoted and constant in his belief during those very difficult times.
In the 1962 general election Frank won again. It was a minority government and Frank was sworn in as a minister in recognition of his ability and contribution to parliament and to his country.
In 1963 Mr. Diefenbaker and his Tories were defeated and Frank lost his seat. Frank moved to journalism and worked for the Toronto Star and hosted a CBC television series call The Sixties . He ran again in 1965 but lost. Frank went on in his contribution to public service by serving on the Security Intelligence Review Committee from 1984 to 1989 and in 1990 became a citizenship court judge. Frank McGee was a very accomplished man with a lifetime spent in the pursuit of public service in one form or another.
At the outset I referred to how Frank McGee touched the lives of many of us in the 1972 election and for that matter the role he played in the destiny of this nation. In the course of political life four votes can change the course of history.
Frank McGee is spoken of with warmth in these precincts. While determined, he was never dictatorial. While enlightened, he was never egocentric. While successful, he never lost his connection with his roots and with his values.
On behalf of the Reform Party I extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Moira and to his children Maureen, Owen and Sheilagh. They have lost a good father and this country has lost a genuine example of a gifted politician and a man with a sense of duty.