Lorne Henderson (October 31, 1920 – February 7, 2002) was a politician in
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 ...
, Canada. He served in the
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 1985, and was a
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
William Davis. Henderson was a member of the
Progressive Conservative Party.
Background
He was born in
Enniskillen, Ontario and received a grade eight education in the area. Henderson worked as a hog farmer before entering political life.
Politics
He was a member of the Enniskillen council from 1946 to 1949, deputy
reeve from 1950 to 1951, and reeve from 1952 to 1957. His career in municipal politics culminated when he was named Warden of
Lambton County in 1957.
Henderson was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
1963 provincial election, defeating
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 ...
candidate Russell Watson by 874 votes in
Lambton East.
He served as a backbench supporter of
John Robarts's government, and initially continued in this role when Davis succeeded Robarts as
premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
in 1971. He was re-elected with an increased majority in the elections of
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
and
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
,
and with a reduced majority in
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
.
He was appointed to cabinet on October 7, 1975 as a
Minister without portfolio
A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
responsible for Housing,
and was promoted to
Chairman of Cabinet on February 3, 1977.
Re-elected again in the
1977 election, he appointed as
Minister of Government Services on January 21, 1978,
and as
Minister of Agriculture and Food on August 30, 1979.
Henderson was most proud of his work in the Agriculture portfolio, although reviews from the farming community and his department staff were often less than flattering.
He was re-elected with a landslide majority in the
1981 election, and was named
Provincial Secretary for Resource Development on February 13, 1982.
He resigned from cabinet entirely on July 6, 1983. Henderson supported
Frank Miller to succeed Davis as party leader in 1985, and did not campaign in that year's election.
Henderson was notorious for both his poor grammar and his ability to win government patronage. When the Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Petrolia Hospital in his constituency received a $160,000 donation in 1975, Henderson delivered it with the line, "Me and the premier brung you this cheque". He also possessed a remarkable ability to remember people's names after having only met them once and would often set-up appointments on Saturday afternoons with constituents.
Cabinet posts
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Lorne
1920 births
2002 deaths
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
20th-century mayors of places in Ontario