View source for Alvin Hamilton

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific_prefix=[[The Right Honourable]]
|name=Alvin Hamilton
|honorific-suffix={{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}
|image=File:Alvin Hamilton.jpg
| office        = [[Minister of Agriculture (Canada)|Minister of Agriculture]]
| primeminister    = [[John Diefenbaker]]
| term_start      = October 11, 1960
| term_end        = April 22, 1963
| predecessor     = [[Douglas Harkness]]
| successor       = [[Harry Hays]]
| riding1=[[Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain]]
| parliament1=Canadian
| term_start1= October 30, 1972
| term_end1=November 20, 1988
| predecessor1=[[Richard Southam]]
| successor1=''Riding abolished''
| riding2=[[Regina—Qu'Appelle|Qu'Appelle]]
| parliament2=Canadian
| term_start2=June 10, 1957
| term_end2=June 24, 1968
| predecessor2=[[Henry Mang]]
| successor2=''Riding dissolved''
| birth_name=Francis Alvin George Hamilton
| birth_date={{birth date|1912|3|30}}
| birth_place=[[Kenora|Kenora, Ontario]], Canada
| death_date={{death date and age|2004|6|29|1912|3|30}}
| death_place=[[Manotick|Manotick, Ontario]], Canada
| party=[[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]
| occupation=Soldier, politician
| education=[[University of Saskatchewan]]
}}
'''Francis Alvin George Hamilton''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} (March 30, 1912{{spaced ndash}}June 29, 2004) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] politician. Hamilton led the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan]] from 1949 until he was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in the [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957 general election]]. That election brought the federal [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada]] to power under [[John Diefenbaker]]. He served as Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1957 to 1960. He promoted a new vision of northern development. He was Minister of Agriculture, 1960 to 1963, where he promoted wheat sales to China.<ref>Kyba, 1989.</ref>

==Life and career==
Born in [[Kenora, Ontario]], he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from the [[University of Saskatchewan]]. During [[World War II]], he served with the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] as a navigator and flight lieutenant. He was awarded the [[Burma Star]] Decoration.

After the war, he ran three times unsuccessfully as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in the [[1945 Canadian federal election|1945]], [[1949 Canadian federal election|1949]], and [[1953 Canadian federal election|1953]] elections. He was elected in [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957]] in the riding of [[Regina—Qu'Appelle|Qu'Appelle]] and re-elected 4 more times in [[1958 Canadian federal election|1958]], [[1962 Canadian federal election|1962]], [[1963 Canadian federal election|1963]], and [[1965 Canadian federal election|1965]]. He ran in the riding of [[Regina East]] in the [[1968 Canadian federal election|1968 federal election]], and lost by 192 votes to the New Democrat candidate. He was elected again in the [[1972 Canadian federal election|1972 federal election]] in the riding of [[Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain]] and was re-elected 4 more times in [[1974 Canadian federal election|1974]], [[1979 Canadian federal election|1979]], [[1980 Canadian federal election|1980]], and [[1984 Canadian federal election|1984]]. He retired in 1988.

Hamilton served as Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources in the Diefenbaker [[Canadian cabinet|cabinet]] from 1957 to 1960, supporting a new vision of northern development. From 1960 to the [[1963 Canadian federal election|1963 election]], when the Diefenbaker government was defeated, Hamilton served as [[Minister of Agriculture (Canada)|Minister of Agriculture]], pioneering wheat sales to the [[People's Republic of China]]. He was a candidate at the [[Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1967|1967 PC leadership convention]], making it to the fourth ballot before dropping out.

In 1992, Hamilton was granted the honorific style of "[[The Right Honourable]]" by [[Elizabeth II]] in honour of his service to Canada. This is a rare honour for someone who did not serve as [[Prime Minister of Canada]], [[Chief Justice of Canada]] or [[Governor General of Canada]].

After Hamilton retired from politics in 1988, he lived a relatively secluded life in the [[Ottawa]]-area town of [[Manotick]], where he lived until his death in 2004. On June 28, 2007, the newly refurbished Government of Canada Building in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, was officially named the Francis Alvin George Hamilton Building.  Also, one of the reception rooms at the Embassy of Canada to China in [[Beijing]] is called the Alvin Hamilton Room.

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title= Alvin: a biography of the Honourable Alvin Hamilton, P.C.|last= Kyba|first= Patrick|year= 1989|publisher= Canadian Plains Research Center|location= [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]]|isbn= 978-0-88977-056-0|oclc= 21041688|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/alvinbiographyof0000kyba}}
*Mitcham, Chad J., ''China's Economic Relations with the West and Japan: Grain, Trade and Diplomacy'', 1949–79, Routledge, New York and London, 2005.
*[http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=107198&lang=eng Alvin Hamilton fonds] at [[Library and Archives Canada]].

== Electoral record ==
{{1965 Canadian federal election/Qu'Appelle}}
{{1963 Canadian federal election/Qu'Appelle}}
{{1962 Canadian federal election/Qu'Appelle}}
{{1958 Canadian federal election/Qu'Appelle}}
{{1957 Canadian federal election/Qu'Appelle}}
{{1953 Canadian federal election/Qu'Appelle}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=3841}}
*[http://www.agr.gc.ca/bios/index_e.php?page=hamilton Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada biography]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Rupert Ramsay]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan|Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party Leader]]|years=1949–1957}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Martin Pederson]]}}
{{s-par|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Henry Philip Mang]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] [[Regina—Qu'Appelle|Qu'Appelle]]
 |years=1957–1968}}
{{s-aft|after=District Abolished}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Southam]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] [[Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain]]
 |years=1972–1988}}
{{s-aft|after=District Abolished}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Douglas Harkness]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Canadian Ministers of Northern Affairs and National Resources|Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources]]
 |years=1957–1960}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Walter Gilbert Dinsdale]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{CA-Ministers of Agriculture}}
{{Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Alvin}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian Protestants]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:People from Kenora]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:University of Saskatchewan alumni]]
[[Category:Saskatchewan political party leaders]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]