Walter L. Gordon

For the American attorney, see Walter L. Gordon Jr.

Walter Lockhart Gordon PC CC CBE (27 January 1906 – 21 March 1987) was a Canadian accountant, businessman, politician, and writer.

The Honourable Walter L. Gordon PC CC CBE
Gordon, c. 1964
President of the Privy Council
In office 4 April 1967 – 10 March 1968
Prime Minister	Lester B. Pearson
Preceded by	Guy Favreau
Succeeded by	Pierre Trudeau (Acting)
Minister without portfolio
In office 9 January 1967 – 3 April 1967
Prime Minister	Lester B. Pearson
Minister of Finance
In office 22 April 1963 – 10 November 1965
Prime Minister	Lester B. Pearson
Preceded by	George Nowlan
Succeeded by	Mitchell Sharp
Member of Parliament for Davenport
In office 18 June 1962 – 24 June 1968
Preceded by	Douglas Morton
Succeeded by	Charles Caccia
Personal details
Born	Walter Lockhart Gordon (1906-01-27)27 January 1906 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	21 March 1987(1987-03-21) (aged 81) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Elizabeth Counsell ​ (m. 1932)​
Children	3
Relatives	Charles Drury (brother-in-law)
Profession	Lawyer Accountant

Education

Born in Toronto, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel H. D. L. Gordon, DSO, he was educated at Upper Canada College and the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

Early business career

Upon graduation, he joined the family accounting firm of Clarkson, Gordon and Company, in January 1927. He was a student there for four years, became a chartered accountant in early 1931, and was promoted to partner in 1935.

During World War II, Gordon served in the Bank of Canada and the federal Ministry of Finance. In 1946, he chaired the Royal Commission on Administrative Classifications in the Public Service.

The beginnings of economic nationalism

From 1955 to 1957, Gordon chaired the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects. The commission's reports, issued in 1956 and 1957, expressed concern about growing foreign ownership in the Canadian economy, particularly in the resource sector, and made recommendations to redress the problem. The themes raised in the reports were revisited by Gordon in his government career.

Political career

In the 1962 federal election, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal. He was Minister of Finance from 1963 to 1965, during Prime Minister Lester Pearson's first minority government. Gordon's 1965 budget, which included an 11% tax on construction materials and manufacturing equipment, as well as the expansion of social programs, was attacked by the Opposition parties. Gordon persuaded Pearson to call the 1965 federal election and co-chaired the Liberal campaign. When the election failed to return a Liberal majority, Gordon, taking responsibility for giving the prime minister poor advice, resigned from Cabinet and returned to the backbench. In 1967, he returned to Cabinet as President of the Privy Council from 1967 to 1968. He was noted for his economic nationalism and his support for new social programs.

Gordon disagreed, often sharply, with Pearson over the significant expansion in federal expenditures and the decline of sound financial management in Pearson's second administration, which began in 1965. The long friendship between the two men, which had begun in the mid-1930s, gradually unravelled.

Gordon supported Pierre Trudeau's winning 1968 bid for the Liberal leadership, after Pearson announced his retirement in late 1967. Trudeau, after he became prime minister, invited Gordon to join his Cabinet in April 1968. However, Gordon declined over some misgivings about being able to work successfully with Trudeau and decided not to run again for office in the June 1968 general election.

Returns to business

After leaving politics in 1968, he returned to business. He continued to argue for economic nationalist causes and in 1970, along with Peter C. Newman of the Toronto Star, economist Abraham Rotstein, and University of Toronto professor Mel Watkins, founded the Committee for an Independent Canada. Canadian historian Jack Granatstein argues in Yankee Go Home? that the CIC "helped to create the atmosphere in which Trudeau's government established the Canada Development Corporation in 1971 to 'buy back' Canada."

Later years

Gordon was the Chancellor of York University from 1973 to 1977. According to Dr. Stephen Azzi, Walter Gordon is responsible for "New Nationalism" in Canada. This is the idea of supporting stronger ties with Great Britain, to prevent Canada being absorbed by United States. He published his political memoirs in 1977. He died in 1987.

Honours and awards

Wall of Honour, Royal Military College of Canada

In 1976, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for his war services. In 2009, 1681 Honourable Walter L. Gordon, PC, CC, CBE, FCA, LLD (1906–1987) was added to the wall of honour at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

Archives

There is a Walter Lockhart Gordon fonds at Library and Archives Canada.

Electoral record

1965 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter L. Gordon	9,887	58.4	3.6
	Progressive Conservative	Daniel Iannuzzi	3,907	23.1	0.6
	New Democratic	Nelson W. Abraham	2,918	17.2	-4.4
	Communist	William Kashtan	224	1.3
Total valid votes			16,936	100.0

1963 Canadian federal election: Davenport
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter L. Gordon	11,023	54.7	12.1
	Progressive Conservative	Pauline Miles	4,520	22.4	-9.0
	New Democratic	Vic Cathers	4,347	21.6	-2.7
	Social Credit	Roland Ring	245	1.2	0.7
Total valid votes			20,135	100.0

1962 Canadian federal election: Davenport
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter L. Gordon	9,101	42.6	11.1
	Progressive Conservative	M. Douglas Morton	6,713	31.5	-17.1
	New Democratic	Bill Sefton	5,181	24.3	4.4
	Communist	Phyllis Clarke	231	1.1
	Social Credit	Raymond Bell	117	0.5
Total valid votes			21,343	100.0

Note: NDP vote is compared to CCF vote in 1958 election.

Further reading

• Azzi, Stephen. Walter Gordon and the Rise of Canadian Nationalism (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 1999).
• Smith, Denis. Gentle Patriot: A Political Biography of Walter Gordon, Edmonton 1973, Hurtig Publishers.

Writings

• Troubled Canada: The Need for New Domestic Policies, by Walter Gordon, 1961.
• A Choice for Canada: Independence or Colonial Status, by Walter Gordon, 1966.
• Storm Signals: New Economic Policies for Canada, by Walter Gordon, 1975.
• A Political Memoir, by Walter Gordon, Toronto 1977, McClelland & Stewart publishers, ISBN 0-7710-3440-7.

External links

• Walter L. Gordon – Parliament of Canada biography