James McPhail (Jim) Gillies, CM (2 November 1924 – 13 December 2015) was a politician and economist in Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of 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 ...

from 1972 to 1979, elected in the Toronto, Ontario, riding of Don Valley. He taught economics at the Faculty of Administrative Studies at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

and was sought after for commentary on economic issues.

Background

Gillies attended public and secondary school in Teeswater, Ontario. He then went to

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

to attend

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 ...

. He joined the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1945 he continued his education in the United States at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

and

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. He joined the faculty of

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

's Graduate School of Management in 1951 and remained there until his return to Canada in 1965 where he was the first dean of York University's Faculty of Administrative Studies, now named the

Schulich School of Business The Schulich School of Business is the business school of York University located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The institution provides undergraduate and graduate degree and diploma programs in business administration, finance, accounting, bus ...

. Gillies was chair of the Ontario Economic Council in 1971 and 1972.

Politics

Gillies ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1972 federal election. He was elected in the riding of Don Valley defeating Liberal incumbent Robert Kaplan by 6,135 votes. He was re-elected in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and left federal office after completing his term in the

30th Canadian Parliament The 30th Canadian Parliament was in session from September 30, 1974, until March 26, 1979. The membership was set by the 1974 Canadian federal election, 1974 election on July 8, 1974, and was only changed somewhat due to resignations and by-elect ...

. In 1976, Gillies was a candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, placing 9th out of 11 candidates and withdrawing after the first ballot. He was a senior policy advisor to Prime Minister

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 ...

in the brief PC government of 1979-80.

Later life

He was named a professor emeritus of the Schulich School of Business and continued to provide commentary on economic matters. He died on 13 December 2015, aged 91.

Works

*Gillies, James M. (2010)
From vision to reality: the founding of the Faculty of Administrative Studies at York University, 1965-1972
*

References

External links