Leslie Frost | |
|---|---|
 The Hon. Leslie Miscampbell Frost | |
| 16th Premier of Ontario | |
| In office May 4, 1949 – November 8, 1961 | |
| Monarchs | George VI Elizabeth II |
| Lieutenant Governor | Ray Lawson Louis Orville Breithaupt John Keiller MacKay |
| Preceded by | Thomas Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | John Robarts |
| Member of theLegislative Assembly of Ontario forVictoria | |
| In office October 6, 1937 – May 16, 1963 | |
| Preceded by | William Newman |
| Succeeded by | Ronald Glen Hodgson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Leslie Miscampbell Frost (1895-09-20)September 20, 1895 Orillia, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | May 4, 1973(1973-05-04) (aged 77) Lindsay, Ontario, Canada |
| Resting place | Riverside Cemetery |
| Political party | Ontario PC Party |
| Spouse | Gertrude Jane Carew |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto Osgoode Hall Law School |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Canada |
| Branch/service | Canadian Army |
| Years of service | 1916-1918 |
| Rank | _OF-2.svg) Captain |
| Unit | 157th Battalion (Simcoe Foresters) |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Leslie Miscampbell FrostPC CC QC (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was apolitician inOntario, Canada, who served as the province's 16thpremier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961.[1] Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man Ontario"; he was also known as "the Silver Fox".[2]
Born inOrillia, Ontario, he was the son of William Sword Frost and Margaret Jane Barker.[3] His father was a jeweller and mayor of Orillia; his mother was an important figure in the early days ofThe Salvation Army. He attended theUniversity of Toronto andOsgoode Hall Law School.[4] DuringWorld War I, he was an officer with 'C' Company157th Battalion (Simcoe Foresters), CEF, and served with the20th Battalion (Central Ontario) inFrance andBelgium. In 1918, after being wounded, he was discharged with the rank of Captain.[5] He was called to the Bar in 1921.
In 1926, he married Gertrude Jane Carew. They had no children. The couple lived inLindsay, Ontario, but Frost preferred his property at Pleasant Point onSturgeon Lake north of Lindsay. When Frost and his brother, Cecil Gray Frost, first moved to Lindsay to establish a law practice, they rented a building at Pleasant Point that had been the community store and commuted to town by steamer. Frost bought the property in 1925 and, in about 1950, bought adjacent property where he built the winterized log cabin that was his refuge while he was premier and in retirement.
In1937, he was first elected to the Ontario legislature and thereafter never lost an election. He was theTreasurer of Ontario and Minister of Mines from 1943 to 1955.Frost was chosen as leader of theOntario Progressive Conservative Party (the "Tories") followingPremierGeorge Drew's decision to enter federal politics.
Dubbed "The Old Man Ontario" and "The Laird of Lindsay", Frost led the province during the economic boom of the 1950s.[6] His low-key approach garnered him the nickname "The Great Tranquilizer".[7] Combining small-town values with progressive policies, he took the Tories through three successive electoral victories winningmajority governments in1951,1955 and1959.[8]
Frost's government also attempted to wrest control of theincome tax from the federal government, but failed, resulting in the introduction of a provincialsales tax. Frost expanded health care coverage for Ontarians through the creation of the Hospital Services Commission of Ontario Act and the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan. By 1960, 94% of the population of Ontario was enrolled in the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan.[9]
Frost's government oversaw substantial expansion in public services[10] and substantially increased public investment in the economy,[11] as well as through strong fiscal policies.[12]
Under Frost, the number of universities in Ontario increased from four to twelve. As finance minister in 1943, the total provincial investment in education was just over $13 million. Upon his retirement in 1961, the education budget for Ontario was $250 million.[4]
The Frost government was the first to pass laws providing penalties for racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination on private property; these laws, introduced in the early 1950s as the Fair Employment Practices Act and Fair Accommodation Practices Act,[13] started a movement in Ontario politics that produced theOntario Human Rights Code in 1962 and later legislation. Frost's government also introduced legislation to ensure women received equal wages. His government also introduced voting rights forFirst Nations.[4] When confronted by J.A. McGibbon, a judge from Lindsay and fellow fishing companion, regarding an anti-discrimination law about property, Frost told him that his attitudes towards people of color were out of date.[14]
Frost's government oversaw great expansion in the role of government. Under his leadership, Ontario greatly expanded its schools, highways and hospitals.[15] Under his leadership Ontario created the400 series of superhighways, most notably theMacdonald-Cartier Freeway better known as Highway 401.
Frost's government oversaw the federation of theold City of Toronto with twelve surrounding municipalities to becomeMetropolitan Toronto.
Frost resigned in 1961,[11] and was succeeded as Tory leader and Premier byJohn Robarts.[16]
Upon retirement from politics, Frost served on the Board of Governors of the University of Toronto. As well, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Montreal, KVP, Canada Life, and Trans Canada Air. Between 1954 and 1969 he also served as Vice-President of theChamplain Society and as its Honorary Vice-President from 1969 to 1973.[17] He served as Chancellor ofTrent University from 1967 to 1973. In retirement, he continued his interest in the outdoors. Near the end of his life, he undertook for the government of Ontario an exhaustive investigation of the state and potential ofAlgonquin Provincial Park.[18] In the last interview he gave, just before he died, to theToronto Star, he declared: "I am an environmentalist."
Frost was an excellent amateur historian. His bookFighting Men covered the history of the 35th Regiment of Simcoe Foresters fromOrillia, Ontario in the context of the First World War. Within that he connects the Canadian home front to the war front in France, and connects the events within the regiment to the bigger picture of the war and Canada's subsequent role in world affairs.[19] His Forgotten Pathways of the Trent (published just after he died) challenged historians' previous conclusions about Indian trade and warfare routes in southern Ontario. He was an avid U.S. Civil War buff and kept on the mantelpiece in his large library a piece of wood that was supposed to have come from Abraham Lincoln's original log cabin.
In 1969, he was made a Companion of theOrder of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.[20]
Various places across Ontario are named for Frost:
Media related toLeslie Frost at Wikimedia Commons| Ontario provincial government ofLeslie Frost | ||
| Cabinet post (1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Dana Porter | Minister, Department of Economics 1958 (February–April) | James Allan |
| Ontario provincial government ofThomas Kennedy | ||
| Ontario provincial government ofGeorge A. Drew | ||
| Cabinet posts (2) | ||
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Robert Laurier | Minister of Mines 1943-1949 | Welland Gemmell |
| Arthur Gordon | Treasurer of Ontario 1943-1955 | Dana Porter |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by New position | Chancellor ofTrent University 1967–1973 | Succeeded by |
Leaders of theProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario and its antecedents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Liberal-Conservative (1867–1873) |  | |
| Conservative (1873–1942) | ||
| Progressive Conservative (1942–present) | ||
| Leadership elections | ||
Interim leaders are in parentheses. | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
