Alvin Hamilton

Francis Alvin George Hamilton, PC (March 30, 1912 – June 29, 2004) was a Canadian politician. Hamilton led the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan from 1949 until he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 general election. That election brought the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to power under John George Diefenbaker.

The Right Honourable

Alvin Hamilton

PC
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain
In office
October 30, 1972 – November 20, 1988
Preceded byRichard Southam
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Qu'Appelle
In office
June 10, 1957 – June 24, 1968
Preceded byHenry Mang
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
Personal details
Born
Francis Alvin George Hamilton

(1912-03-30)March 30, 1912
Kenora, Ontario, Canada
DiedJune 29, 2004(2004-06-29) (aged 92)
Manotick, Ontario, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative
EducationUniversity of Saskatchewan
OccupationSoldier, politician

Life and career

Born in Kenora, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from the University of Saskatchewan. During World War II, he served with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a navigator and flight lieutenant. He was awarded the Burma Star Decoration.

After the war, he ran three times unsuccessfully as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1945, 1949, and 1953 elections. He was elected in 1957 in the riding of Qu'Appelle and re-elected 4 more times in 1958, 1962, 1963, and 1965. He ran in the riding of Regina East in the 1968 federal election, and lost by 192 votes to the New Democrat candidate. He was elected again in the 1972 federal election in the riding of Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain and was re-elected 4 more times in 1974, 1979, 1980, and 1984. He retired in 1988.

Hamilton served as Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources in the Diefenbaker cabinet from 1957 to 1960, supporting a new vision of northern development. From 1960 to the 1963 election, when the Diefenbaker government was defeated, Hamilton served as Minister of Agriculture, pioneering wheat sales to the People's Republic of China. He was a candidate at the 1967 PC leadership convention, making it to the fourth ballot before dropping out.

In 1992, Hamilton was granted the honorific style of "The Right Honourable" by Elizabeth II in honour of his service to Canada. This is a rare honour for someone who did not serve as Prime Minister of Canada, Chief Justice of Canada or Governor General of Canada.

After Hamilton retired from politics in 1988, he lived a relatively secluded life in the Ottawa-area town of Manotick, where he lived until his death in 2004. On June 28, 2007, the newly refurbished Government of Canada Building in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, was officially named the Francis Alvin George Hamilton Building. Also, one of the reception rooms at the Embassy of Canada to China in Beijing is called the Alvin Hamilton Room.

Further reading
  • Kyba, Patrick (1989). Alvin: a biography of the Honourable Alvin Hamilton, P.C.. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center. ISBN 978-0-88977-056-0. OCLC 21041688.
  • Mitcham, Chad J., China's Economic Relations with the West and Japan: Grain, Trade and Diplomacy, 1949–79, Routledge, New York and London, 2005.
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Party political offices
Preceded by
Rupert Ramsay		 Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party Leader
1949–1957		 Succeeded by
Martin Pederson
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by
Henry Philip Mang		 Member of Parliament Qu'Appelle
1957–1968		 Succeeded by
District Abolished
Preceded by
Richard Southam		 Member of Parliament Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain
1972–1988		 Succeeded by
District Abolished
Political offices
Preceded by
Douglas Harkness		 Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources
1957–1960		 Succeeded by
Walter Gilbert Dinsdale
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