Heward Grafftey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Heward Grafftey (August 5, 1928 – February 11, 2010) was a Canadian politician and businessman.


Early life

Born in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, to a wealthy family, he was a nephew of artist Prudence Heward of the
Beaver Hall Group The Beaver Hall Group refers to a Montreal-based group of Canadians, Canadian painters who met in the late 1910s while studying art at a school run by the Art Association of Montreal. The Group is notable for its equal inclusion of men and women ar ...
, and wrote a chapter about her in the 1996 book ''Portraits of a Life''. His father, Major Arthur Grafftey, was a
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
hero and board chairman of the Montreal Lumber Company. Grafftey received a bachelor of arts degree from
Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...
, majoring in political science and history, and a bachelor of civil law degree from
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
. He was admitted to the
Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec () is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Canada (). History The begi ...
.


Parliamentary career

Grafftey was first 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 ...
in the 1958 general election that returned
John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...
's Progressive Conservative (PC) Party in a
landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...
. A resident of the
Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...
, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Brome—Missisquoi from 1958 to 1968. From 1962 to 1963, Grafftey served as parliamentary secretary to
Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
George Nowlan George Clyde Nowlan (14 August 1898 – 31 May 1965) was a Canadian Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, he served as Minister of Finance in the government of John Diefenbake ...
. Due to his relatively short stature and impish looks, Grafftey earned the nickname of "The
Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...
from Brome," during his twenty years in politics. In the 1964 Great Flag Debate, he was one of a handful of Conservative MPs—a group led by his fellow Quebecer Léon Balcer—who broke with leader John Diefenbaker to support the adoption of the Maple Leaf flag. Grafftey sat as a Tory MP until losing his seat when 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 ...
under
Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
won the 1968 election in a landslide. During this period, he called for radical reforms to Canada's housing policies. Grafftey returned to
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in the 1972 election, and was a candidate in the
1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election The 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held at the TD Place Arena, Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to replace Robert Stanfield, who had res ...
, in which he placed last on the first ballot, with 33 delegate votes. Like many of the other challengers in the race who were eliminated in the early ballots, Grafftey supported the eventual leadership winner,
Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...
. Clark became
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 ...
after winning a
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
, and Grafftey served as
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
for Social Programs and Minister of State for Science and Technology in Clark's short-lived government before losing his seat again in the 1980 election. Grafftey supported Clark in the 1983 PC leadership election, in which the latter lost to
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...
, and was largely shut out of Quebec PC circles during the Mulroney years.


Later political career

Grafftey attempted to return to Parliament in the 2000 election, but was unsuccessful. After suffering a serious injury which incapacitated him for most of the campaign, he came in third place behind the
Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...
challenger and Liberal incumbent MP Denis Paradis. He did, however, finish with the second highest vote total of any Progressive Conservative candidate in the province of Québec. In 2002, he was one of the first Progressive Conservatives to call openly for Joe Clark, who had returned as Tory leader in
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
, to resign, offering himself as a replacement. Grafftey eventually ran as a PC leadership candidate in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
. He ran a campaign that was devoid of defining policy proposals but which focused upon his political experience, his bilingualism and his belief that he could recruit 300,000 new members to help the PCs win the coming election. Although, like most of the candidates in the race, he supported the twin Progressive Conservative pillars of North American
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
and support for decentralizing reforms to the
Constitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada () is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various ...
, he often found himself in agreement with the left wing of his party, sharing maverick candidate David Orchard's opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Grafftey's candidacy received some media attention largely because he was the only candidate in the race who was fluently bilingual (in English and French) and had experience in governing. Yet Grafftey's age (75 at the time) was also mocked by political satirists as an indication of the lack of "new blood" in the PC Party. Grafftey withdrew several days prior to the vote for health reasons. Analysts suggest that Grafftey had 72 committed delegates hailing largely from several Montreal-area ridings. Most of Grafftey's delegates entered the convention as "undeclared delegates". He did not attend the convention, nor did he endorse any other leadership candidate, though many of his rural backers went over to David Orchard. After the 2003 convention, Grafftey briefly re-entered the political spotlight by joining Orchard and other former Tories in opposition to a proposed merger of the party with the
Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...
. They were unsuccessful, with the
Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...
officially forming in 2004. Grafftey still insisted that he was a "Progressive Conservative". He ran in Brome—Missisquoi for the
Progressive Canadian Party The Progressive Canadian Party (PC Party) () was a minor centre-right federal political party in Canada. It was registered with Elections Canada, the government's election agency, on March 29, 2004. Under provisions of the Canada Elections Ac ...
in the 2006 federal election and came in fifth place with 1,921 votes—4% of the total ballots cast.


Other interests

Grafftey was active in business circles up to his death and was the CEO of SafetySense, which publishes basic safety booklets for businesses and schools. In 2001, he wrote a book on the state of Canadian politics entitled ''Democracy Challenged: How to End One-Party Rule in Canada''.


Personal life

He has three children: Arthur Heward, Clement Tae Yong, and Leah Yoon Hee. His marriage to Alida Grace Visser ended in divorce. He neither declared nor denied being gay. "I never had to come out, because it was never an issue. I was never in. I was always me," he once said. Grafftey declared his sexual orientation when he disrupted and stormed out of a service at St. George's Anglican Church in Montreal after the priest delivered what he considered a homophobic sermon. Grafftey died February 11, 2010, at the Royal Victoria Hospital from complications from Parkinson's disease.


Further reading


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grafftey, Heward 1928 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian Anglicans Canadian gay politicians Canadian LGBTQ Members of Parliament Canadian political writers Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Canada Lawyers from Montreal LGBTQ conservatism McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Mount Allison University alumni Neurological disease deaths in Quebec Politicians from Montreal Progressive Canadian Party candidates in the 2006 Canadian federal election Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Writers from Montreal