John Lynch-Staunton

John Lynch-Staunton (born June 19, 1930 in Montreal) is a former Canadian senator and was the first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He represented the Senate division of Grandville, Quebec.

Personal Background

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Lynch-Staunton was educated at Collège Stanislas and Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal. He obtained a B.Sc in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1953, and did graduate work towards a Master's Degree in Canadian History at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario 1953-1955.

Lynch-Staunton married Juliana deKuyper in 1958. They have five children (Mark, Peter, Gabrielle, Sophie and Sean) and seven grandchildren (Caitlin, Connor, Harry, Juliana, Matthew, Jaryd and Monique)

City Councillor

Lynch-Staunton was elected to the City Council of Montreal in 1960. He represented the district of Côte-des-Neiges and was a member of Mayor Jean Drapeau's Parti civique de Montréal. He was re-elected in 1962, 1966 and 1970. In 1974 though, he lost his bid for re-election to Nick Auf der Maur as the "Rassemblement des citoyens et citoyennes de Montréal (RCM)" achieved its first political breakthrough.

Provincial Politics

Lynch-Staunton ran as a Union Nationale candidate for a provincial by-election in the district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in 1968. He was defeated by Liberal candidate William Tetley.

enator

Lynch-Staunton was appointed to the Senate on the recommendation of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on September 23, 1990. The following year, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, and became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in December 1993 following the Liberal victory in that year's general election.

On December 8, 2003, with the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ratified by both parties, Lynch-Staunton served as interim leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada until the election of Stephen Harper in March 2004.

He remained Leader of the Opposition in the Senate until September 30, 2004, and retired from parliament when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 on June 19, 2005.

External links

* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?Language=E&query=352&s=M Federal Political Biography from the Library of Parliament]

Persondata
NAME=Lynch-Staunton, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=June 19 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH=Montreal Canada
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=