John Melville Turner

For other people named John Turner, see John Turner (disambiguation).

John Melville Turner (born September 24, 1922 – January 20, 2013) was a Canadian politician in the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1975, and again from 1977 to 1987, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. He was the Speaker of the Ontario Legislature from 1981 to 1985.

John Turner
Ontario MPP
In office 1977–1987
Preceded by	Gillian Sandeman
Succeeded by	Peter Adams
In office 1971–1975
Preceded by	Walter Pitman
Succeeded by	Gillian Sandeman
Constituency	Peterborough
Personal details
Born	(1922-09-24)September 24, 1922 Peterborough, Ontario
Died	January 20, 2013(2013-01-20) (aged 90) Peterborough, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative

Background

Turner was born and educated in Peterborough, Ontario. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Pilot Officer from 1942 to 1945, and later worked as a business manager. He was an alderman for Peterborough, Ontario City Council from 1969 to 1971, and also served on the city health board. On March 31, 2014, Jeff Leal, Peterborough MPP and Minister of Rural Affairs announced that 55 km of Highway 115 from Peterborough to the 401 MacDonald-Cartier Freeway was dedicated as the John M. Turner Memorial Highway in honour of Turner's service to his country, province and community. Turner was a member of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, and a member of the Peterborough Rotary Club.

Politics

In 1971, Turner was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election, defeating New Democratic Party incumbent Walter Pitman by 590 votes in the Peterborough constituency. He served as a backbench supporter of Bill Davis's government for the next four years, and lost to NDP candidate Gillian Sandeman by 505 votes in the 1975 election.

Turner defeated Sandeman by 2,648 votes in the 1977 election. He defeated Liberal Party candidate Peter Adams by 6,699 votes in the 1981 election. He was appointed as Speaker of the Legislature on April 21, 1981.

The Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a tenuous minority government under Frank Miller's leadership in the 1985 provincial election. Turner was re-elected in Peterborough, but was replaced as Speaker by Liberal Hugh Edighoffer when the Tories lost control of the legislature after the election. Turner served as an opposition member for the next two years, and did not seek re-election in 1987.

Electoral record

1981 Ontario general election: Peterborough
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	John Turner	17,962	45.92	$37,481
	Liberal	Peter Adams	11,263	28.80	$24,430
	New Democratic	Paul Rexe	8,756	22.39	$21,400
	Libertarian	John Hayes	787	2.01	$3,667
	Independent	Bruce Knapp	286	0.73	$936
	Independent	Kenneth T. Burgess	59	0.15	$0
Total valid votes			39,113	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			191
Turnout			39,304	63.06
Electors on the lists			62,332

1985 Ontario general election: Peterborough
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	John Melville Turner	16,878	43.03
	New Democratic	Linda Slavin	11,941	30.44
	Liberal	Bill Ayotte	9,734	24.82
	Libertarian	John Conlin	461	1.18
	Green	George Kerr	212	0.54	–
Total valid votes			39,226	100.00
Rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			233
Turnout			39,459	60.25
Electors on the lists			65,493

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history