20 Facts About Heward Grafftey

Heward Grafftey's father, Major Arthur Grafftey, was a First World War hero and board chairman of the Montreal Lumber Company.

Heward Grafftey received a bachelor of arts degree from Mount Allison University, majoring in political science and history, and a bachelor of civil law degree from McGill University.

Heward Grafftey was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1958 general election that returned John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservative Party in a landslide victory.

From 1962 to 1963, Heward Grafftey served as parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister George Nowlan.

Heward Grafftey sat as a Tory MP until losing his seat when the Liberal Party under Pierre Trudeau won the 1968 election in a landslide.

Heward Grafftey returned to Parliament in the 1972 election, and was a candidate in the 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, in which he placed last on the first ballot, with 33 delegate votes.

Clark became Prime Minister after winning a minority government in 1979, and Heward Grafftey served as Minister of State for Social Programs and Minister of State for Science and Technology in Clark's short-lived government before losing his seat again in the 1980 election.

Heward Grafftey supported Clark in the 1983 PC leadership election, in which the latter lost to Brian Mulroney, and was largely shut out of Quebec PC circles during the Mulroney years.

Heward Grafftey attempted to return to Parliament in the 2000 election, but was unsuccessful.

Heward Grafftey did finish with the second highest vote total of any Progressive Conservative candidate in the province of Quebec.

Heward Grafftey eventually ran as a PC leadership candidate in 2003.

Heward Grafftey ran a campaign that was devoid of defining policy proposals but which focused upon his political experience, his bilingualism and his belief that he could recruit 300,000 new members to help the PCs win the coming election.

Heward Grafftey's candidacy received some media attention largely because he was the only candidate in the race who was fluently bilingual and had experience in governing.

Yet Heward Grafftey's age was mocked by political satirists as an indication of the lack of "new blood" in the PC Party.

Heward Grafftey withdrew several days prior to the vote for health reasons.

Analysts suggest that Heward Grafftey had 72 committed delegates hailing largely from several Montreal-area ridings.

Heward Grafftey did not attend the convention, nor did he endorse any other leadership candidate, though many of his rural backers went over to David Orchard.

Heward Grafftey was active in business circles up to his death and was the CEO of SafetySense, which publishes basic safety booklets for businesses and schools.

Heward Grafftey has three children: Arthur Heward, Clement Tae Yong, and Leah Yoon Hee.

Heward Grafftey died February 11,2010, at the Royal Victoria Hospital from complications from Parkinson's disease.