Alastair Gillespie attended Brentwood College School where he was an avid rugby player.
14 Facts About Alastair Gillespie
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Alastair Gillespie received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1947 and a Masters of Arts from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 1949.
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Alastair Gillespie later received a Master of Commerce from the University of Toronto in 1958.
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Alastair Gillespie was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto area riding of Etobicoke in the 1968 election.
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Alastair Gillespie was re-elected in the 1972 and 1974 elections.
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Alastair Gillespie's district was divided by electoral redistribution in 1976, which took effect at the election of 1979.
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Alastair Gillespie ran in 1979, losing to Progressive Conservative candidate Michael Wilson in Etobicoke Centre.
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Alastair Gillespie held various ministerial positions in Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau's government, including: Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce; Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources; Minister of State for Science and Technology; and Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board.
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Alastair Gillespie is one of the longest-serving Privy Counsellors of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, having been nominated to that body in 1971 by Prime Minister Trudeau.
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Alastair Gillespie was director and chairman of Creemore Springs Brewery from 1996 to 2005.
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Alastair Gillespie was director of the Canadian Opera Company from 1981 to 1993 and president from 1986 to 1988.
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Alastair Gillespie was married to Diana Christie Gillespie and has two children, Ian Gillespie and Cynthia Webb.
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Alastair Gillespie is the grandfather of former Canadian professional tennis player, Olympian, NCAA Division I women's tennis champion and Duke University Athletics Hall of Fame member Vanessa Webb.
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Alastair Gillespie died in August 2018 at the age of 96.