Gordon Robert Carton (July 14, 1921 - April 6, 2017) was a Canadian politician from
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...
from 1963 to 1975 who represented the riding of Armourdale. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of
Bill Davis
William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...
.
Background
Carton was born in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario in 1921. His parents were Arthur Carton and Lucinda Bain. He was educated at Victoria College where he received a degree in 1946. He went to Osgoode Hall Law School and graduated in 1949. He worked as a lawyer before entering politics. He married Marjorie Davis. Together they raised two daughters Heather and Janice.
Politics
Carton was active in politics his teen years. His first political effort was campaigning on behalf of the first
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party:
*
*
*
*
*
* and social democracy, social-democ ...
MP elected in Ontario, Joe Noseworthy, in 1942.
He was elected in the 1963 provincial election in the new riding of Armourdale where he defeated Liberal candidate Allan Hollingworth. He was re-elected in the general elections in 1967 and 1971.
During his first term as an MPP, Carton criticized the policies of his own government when it came to treating property owners adjacent to new or expanded highways. As a result of an extremely controversial speech he gave in the Ontario Legislature, the government reversed its policies and began to offer compensation to property owners adversely affected by highway construction. Carton supported
Bill Davis
William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...
for the leadership of the
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada.
During its uninterr ...
in January 1971.
After Davis won the leadership, he appointed Carton as the
Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
Arthur Wishart
Arthur Allison Wishart, (June 11, 1903 – November 23, 1986) was a politician and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1971. He was a Progressive Conservative member who served in the cabinets of John Robarts and Bill Davis.
...
. On February 2, 1972 he was appointed as the Minister of Transportation and Communications. On February 27, 1974, Davis shuffled his Cabinet and Carton was removed from the Transportation portfolio and not given another post. Some argued that this was due to a difference of opinion between Davis and Carton regarding the construction of new expressways in Ontario.
He decided to retire before the 1975 election.
Cabinet posts
Later life
In 1975, Carton became the Vice-President of Silverwood Dairies Ltd., which later became Silcorp Ltd. In that role, he oversaw the introduction of