1. Behind Oliver Mowat, Bill Davis was the second-longest serving premier of Ontario.
37 Facts About Bill Davis
2.
Bill Davis was a backbencher in the Conservative caucus until 1962, when he was appointed minister of education under John Robarts.
3.
Bill Davis led the Progressive Conservatives to victory in four consecutive elections, winning two majority governments and two minority governments.
4.
Bill Davis was born on July 30,1929, at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, the son of Vera Mildred and Albert Grenville Bill Davis.
5.
Bill Davis married twice, first to Helen McPhee in 1955, with whom he had four children.
6.
Bill Davis then married Kathleen Mackay in 1964; they had one daughter, Meg, in 1965.
7.
Bill Davis frequently campaigned for local Member of Provincial Parliament Thomas Laird Kennedy, who briefly served as Premier of Ontario in 1949.
8.
Bill Davis graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in 1951.
9.
Bill Davis was a football player during his university years, and his teammates included Roy McMurtry and Thomas Leonard Wells, both of whom would later serve in his cabinet.
10.
Bill Davis received a bachelor of laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1954 and was called to the bar of Ontario in 1955.
11.
Bill Davis was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1959 provincial election, for the southern Ontario constituency of Peel.
12.
Bill Davis was given the honour of move the motion to vote on the Speech from the Throne, which while purely symbolic, allowed him to give a speech that included two of his own planned projects: establishing what would become the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park, and improving education.
13.
Bill Davis served for two years as a backbench supporter of Leslie Frost's government.
14.
When Frost announced his retirement in 1961, Bill Davis became the chief organizer of Robert Macaulay's campaign to succeed him as premier and party leader.
15.
Macaulay was eliminated on the next-to-last ballot, and, with Bill Davis, delivered crucial support for John Robarts to defeat Kelso Roberts on the final vote.
16.
Bill Davis was appointed to Robarts' cabinet as Minister of Education on October 25,1962, and was re-elected by a greatly increased margin in the 1963 provincial election.
17.
Bill Davis was given additional responsibilities as Ontario's Minister of University Affairs on May 14,1964, and held both portfolios until 1971.
18.
Bill Davis oversaw a controversial overhaul and amalgamation of the outdated school board systems in the province, reducing the number of boards from 3,676 in 1962 to 192 by 1967.
19.
Bill Davis's handling of the education portfolio, of which Robarts was a previous minister, made his entry into the leadership contest to succeed Robarts unsurprising.
20.
Bill Davis was immediately dubbed the frontrunner when he announced his bid on December 20,1970.
21.
Bill Davis faced a significant backlash from teachers in December 1973, following the tabling of a bill to force an end to labour disruptions.
22.
On January 1,1976, Bill Davis enacted Canada's first mandatory seat belt law, following the death of the daughter of his close friend and advisor, Eddie Goodman.
23.
Bill Davis called a snap election in 1977, attempting to capitalise on the turmoil and surprise following the 1976 Quebec general election that saw the Parti Quebecois gain a majority.
24.
The opposition parties had undergone leadership changes; Nixon and Lewis, who had posed a strong challenge to Bill Davis, resigned after the 1975 and 1977 elections, respectively.
25.
Unlike most provincial premiers in Canada, Bill Davis strongly supported Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's 1981 plans to patriate the constitution of Canada from the United Kingdom and add to it the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
26.
Bill Davis publicly announced his retirement on October 8,1984, a few months before the 1985 election, with he and his government still well ahead in polls against David Peterson's Liberals and Bob Rae's NDP.
27.
Bill Davis was succeeded by Frank Miller, who was elected leader at a January 1985 leadership convention over Larry Grossman.
28.
Bill Davis was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 1986, and received the Order of Ontario in 1987.
29.
In 1985 and 1986, Bill Davis was the Canadian half of a joint task force with the United States appointed by Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan to solve the ongoing acid rain issues affecting the Great Lakes.
30.
Many Conservatives parliamentarians were openly dismissive of Bill Davis-era spending policies, and frequently highlighted the differences between Bill Davis and Harris on policy issues.
31.
Bill Davis remained a supporter of the party, but seldom appeared at official events.
32.
In 2003, Bill Davis played a role in the successful negotiations to merge the federal Progressive Conservatives with the Canadian Alliance, and create the new Conservative Party of Canada.
33.
Bill Davis was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Progressive Conservative leadership convention, and was singled out for praise in speeches by outgoing party leader Ernie Eves and new leader John Tory.
34.
Bill Davis was present for Tory's first session in the Ontario legislature, following the latter's victory in a 2005 by-election.
35.
In 2014, Bill Davis endorsed Christine Elliott in her second campaign to become leader of the Ontario PC Party, but she finished as runner-up to Patrick Brown, whom he would later endorse in his successful campaign against incumbent Linda Jeffrey for mayor of Brampton in 2018.
36.
Bill Davis had supported Jeffrey in her 2014 bid for mayor, as well as Toronto mayor John Tory, former Ontario PC Party leader and a principal secretary of Bill Davis in the 1980s.
37.
Bill Davis reportedly convinced Jeffrey to resign from provincial cabinet to challenge Fennell.