92 Facts About Fred Gardiner

Fred Gardiner was the first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto council, the governing body for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, from 1953 to 1961.

Fred Gardiner, after graduating first in his law class, became a well-known criminal lawyer.

Fred Gardiner invested in various businesses, including consumer credit, sawmills, manufacturing and mining.

Fred Gardiner was a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in both federal and provincial politics, organized conventions and developed policy in the 1930s and 1940s.

Fred Gardiner was instrumental in the updating of the Conservative Party, as it was then known, to the Progressive Conservative Party to acknowledge its change in policy to incorporate progressive values.

Fred Gardiner was a close adviser to Ontario PC Premiers George Drew and Leslie Frost.

Fred Gardiner was born on January 21,1895, in Toronto, one of three children born to David and Victoria Gardiner, the others being Myrtle and Samuel.

David Fred Gardiner was born in October 1854 in county Monaghan, Ireland, one of ten children.

Fred Gardiner attended Grace Street School, until 1909 when he started to attend Parkdale Collegiate Institute on Jameson Avenue.

Fred Gardiner's father, a member of the Loyal Orange Lodge, was a member of the Conservative Party.

Fred Gardiner first helped out on a campaign for the board of education.

In 1913, Fred Gardiner entered the University of Toronto, in general arts, transferring in the second year to honours political science.

Fred Gardiner paid for his tuition out of his own savings.

Fred Gardiner joined the varsity rugby team in 1914, a year that the team won the national championship.

Fred Gardiner had to drop out of the varsity team when he did not have enough money for the fees, and his father refused to pay.

Fred Gardiner worked hard at his studies and won the political economy department's Alexander Mackenzie Medal in 1916.

Fred Gardiner signed on with the Depot Regiment of the Canadian Mounted Rifles.

The regiment was disbanded in 1917, but Fred Gardiner was transferred to an infantry battalion in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Fred Gardiner took an officer's course at Reading University and was assigned as an officer with the Royal Flying Corps, serving as a flight instructor.

Fred Gardiner saw action only after September 1918, when he piloted a Handley-Page night bomber on several missions.

Fred Gardiner played poker on the return voyage after the war and doubled his $1,500 stake.

Fred Gardiner enrolled at Osgoode Hall in law, where returning soldiers could skip the first year, and take the second year in one summer semester.

Fred Gardiner was not impeded by the accelerated schedule, and he placed first in the class of 1920.

Fred Gardiner received the Chancellor Van Koughnet scholarship, a $400 cash prize and the Law Society's gold medal.

Fred Gardiner treasured the gold medal, and kept it on his desk for the length of his career.

Fred Gardiner used most of his $400 prize to buy an engagement ring for Audrey Seaman, a railway clerk and daughter of the proprietor of a prosperous flooring company.

Fred Gardiner started his law career with Crooks, Roebuck and Parkinson.

Fred Gardiner turned down a partnership with the firm because Arthur Roebuck was too liberal even though Roebuck took it as a personal slight.

Fred Gardiner left the practice in 1921 and joined Commercial Credit Company of Canada, as a legal associate.

In 1923, Fred Gardiner returned to law practice partnering with Harry Parkinson.

Fred Gardiner took criminal cases, litigation and continued to handle legal work with Commercial Credit.

Fred Gardiner was perceived as a stubborn and sometimes acid-tongued negotiator, and not a man to be crossed lightly as an opponent.

Fred Gardiner worked hard at research and marshalled detailed evidence with self-assurance.

Fred Gardiner started investing in 1925, starting with $10,000, invested in industrial and mining stocks.

Fred Gardiner sold out in 1929 in time to avoid the crash and held on only to shares of Noranda Mines.

Fred Gardiner accepted stocks as payment for his legal fees and he amassed investments in a diverse number of companies.

Fred Gardiner was involved in real estate, metal stamping, manufacturing, forest products, aluminum products, and car rentals.

Fred Gardiner partnered with Sam Steinberg in Drayton Motors, a large used car dealership.

Fred Gardiner partnered with Steinberg in Sage Enterprises, managing hotels.

Fred Gardiner continued to gamble, losing $6,000 in one night in the late 1930s.

Fred Gardiner's drinking increased until 1940, when Audrey convinced him to give it up.

Fred Gardiner did not drink again until 1949, and when he started, he drank more moderately.

Fred Gardiner developed an interest in growing red roses, for which he won horticultural prizes.

Fred Gardiner assembled a collection of landscape and portrait paintings, and collected modern and antique silver artifacts.

Fred Gardiner first ran for deputy reeve of Forest Hill Village council in 1935.

Fred Gardiner went door-to-door canvassing and received the endorsement of past reeve Andrew Hazlett.

Fred Gardiner won the post by 1,211 to his challenger's 919 votes.

Fred Gardiner would go on to serve as reeve of the Village of Forest Hill for twelve years.

In 1946, his final year as reeve, Fred Gardiner was Warden of the County of York, a title similar in some respects to his later chairmanship of Metropolitan Toronto.

In 1936, Fred Gardiner started getting more involved in Conservative politics.

Fred Gardiner backed W Earl Rowe for Conservative leader of Ontario.

One of Fred Gardiner's first speeches was a rally for Leslie Frost, the older brother of Cecil Frost, who haf organized the 1937 campaign.

Cecil Frost and Fred Gardiner would become the president and first vice-president, respectively, of the party in 1938.

Fred Gardiner, who had decided not to run for provincial politics in 1938, chose not to run for federal politics in the 1939 federal election although the South York nomination was his if he had wanted it.

Fred Gardiner was instrumental in the 1942 Port Hope policy conference, chairing the discussions of the labour committee.

Fred Gardiner came out in favour of legal safeguards for collective bargaining and uniform and general standards in wages and working conditions, including support for a 'closed shop' in collective agreements.

Fred Gardiner again chaired the labour committee and acted in favour of reformed social security, as lieutenant of the resolution and policy committee.

Fred Gardiner would continue his work inside the party for the rest of the 1940s and chaired the resolution and policy committee himself at the 1948 federal leadership convention.

Fred Gardiner turned down several chances to run provincially and federally.

Fred Gardiner would become one of Frost's closest political confidantes and advisers.

The Ontario government, in concert with the City of Toronto, and Fred Gardiner's Planning Board, proposed an amalgamated city to the Ontario Municipal Board to overcome the roadblocks in building capital projects and facilitate growth.

Fred Gardiner was the chief administrative officer of the Metro Toronto organization.

Fred Gardiner was chairman from 1953 until the end of 1961, and he deeply immersed himself in the job.

Fred Gardiner was hospitalized in March 1958 with arthritis and intestinal inflammation.

Fred Gardiner gave up his law practice, giving his cases to others and he parted company with long-time partners Harry Parkinson and Harry Willis.

Fred Gardiner controlled procedural questions strictly, which challenged dissident members to appeal his decisions, which no-one was able to do throughout his term.

Fred Gardiner eviscerated you, he left your entrails all over the floor.

Fred Gardiner was a voting member of all four policy committees.

Fred Gardiner prided himself on his work ethic, the same style that he had used since his days at high school.

Fred Gardiner was known for controlling consideration of issues until the political time was right.

The Bloor-Danforth subway was proposed by the city in 1956, but Fred Gardiner stalled it until 1958 by starting three successive studies.

One area of capital projects that was especially keen to Fred Gardiner's interest was Metro's expressway program.

Fred Gardiner won executive approval for the drawing up of plans for the Lakeshore Expressway in July 1953.

The route through the central section was controversial, especially around Fort York, which he proposed moving, but Fred Gardiner was successful in convincing Council to approve the less-controversial east and west sections first.

Fred Gardiner used similar methods to push the Don Valley Parkway project along.

In 1954, Fred Gardiner deferred the extension of the lakeshore expressway to the east, and the Crosstown expressway was deferred in 1955.

The Spadina Expressway was formally approved at the final meeting Fred Gardiner chaired, and the Cross-town deferred again.

Metro Toronto greatly expanded the ability to finance capital works projects and Fred Gardiner followed three principles in the allocation of money.

Fred Gardiner chose under his chairmanship to negotiate the amount of money to go to local municipalities but did not interfere in the actual ways that the local municipalities spent the money.

Fred Gardiner pursued a policy of balance between the city and the suburbs.

Fred Gardiner pushed for the Bloor-Danforth subway, located mostly in the City, but he pushed for a uniform water rate, a policy that favoured the suburbs.

Fred Gardiner held onto the total figure since "it was a nice round number" until 1961, when he agreed to a five per-cent increase.

Fred Gardiner left City Hall in the second week of January 1962.

Fred Gardiner returned to his law practice, but he did not take on many law cases.

Fred Gardiner became a director of the Toronto Dominion Bank; his 100,000 shares made him the largest shareholder in the bank.

Fred Gardiner retained one public office: he became Commissioner of Toronto Hydro in 1965 and retired in 1979.

Fred Gardiner was a member of the board of governors of York University, to which he donated $50,000.

Fred Gardiner served as vice-president of the Canadian National Exhibition.

Fred Gardiner had retired from the Metro Chairmanship because of his ill health, particularly arthritis.

Fred Gardiner received an artificial hip in 1971, however the operation was not a success.

Fred Gardiner retired as partner from his law practice, although he kept an honorary title and small office.

Fred Gardiner is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario.