Thomas Garfield "Gar" Knutson, (born May 4, 1956) is a lawyer and former member of the
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...
, as well as a former
Cabinet Minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
in the Government of Canada.
Gar Knutson holds a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
(MBA) degree from the
Richard Ivey School of Business
Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...
at the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...
, as well as a B.A. in history. Following University, Gar graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
(LL.B) degree from the
University of Windsor
The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...
. He attended high school at the
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
Brebeuf College School
Brebeuf College School (Brebeuf College, BCS, or Brebeuf) is a publicly funded Roman Catholic all-boys high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada endorsed by the Jesuits of Canada. Founded by the Jesuits in 1963, it is part of the Toronto Catholic D ...
in Toronto.
In the
1993 federal election, he was elected to the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
as the
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Elgin—Norfolk
Elgin (also known as Elgin—Norfolk) was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1997. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Elgin West and No ...
riding as a candidate representing the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
. He was re-elected in the
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
and
2000 elections to the re-organized riding of
Elgin—Middlesex—London.
He served as Parliamentary Secretary to
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...
from 2000 to 2002. In 2002, he was named Secretary of State for Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and served as Minister of State for International Trade from 2003 to 2004 under Prime Minister Paul Martin. Gar was defeated by the
Elgin-Middlesex-London Conservative candidate
Joe Preston in the
2004 election
The following elections occurred in the year 2004.
Africa
* 2004 Algerian presidential election
* 2004 Botswana general election
* 2004 Cameroonian presidential election
* 2004 Comorian legislative election
* 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...
. Shortly afterwards, Knutson joined
Borden Ladner Gervais
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (abbreviated as BLG) is a leading, full-service law firm in Canada with almost 900 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals. With two hundred years of history going back to the 1823 founding of McMas ...
LLP, Canada's largest law firm, practicing in the area of government relations and public policy. Knutson spent 13 years at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, from 2005 to 2018, leaving to start his own boutique law firm
Knutson Law
Knutson attempted to stage a political comeback in the 2007 Federal Liberal nomination in the riding of
Ottawa—Orléans, but lost to former MP
Marc Godbout.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knutson, Gar
1956 births
Living people
Lawyers in Ontario
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Politicians from Toronto
University of Western Ontario alumni
University of Windsor alumni
Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry
Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry
University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni
20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada