Alfred Wallace Downer

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Alfred Wallace (Wally) Downer (May 1, 1904 - August 1994) was a Canadian politician and long time member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

A vicar and then a canon in the Anglican Church of Canada, and a member of the Conservative Party, Downer was first elected to the legislature as the member for Dufferin-Simcoe in the 1937 election. He served as Member of Provincial Parliament until 1975, winning a provincial record of ten consecutive elections.

While an elected MPP, he also served in the military during World War II, serving as chaplain of the Queen's York Rangers in North Africa and Europe. From 1955 until 1959, he served as Speaker of the legislative assembly. He also served as a liquor control commissioner beginning in 1960.

Downer was a candidate in the 1961 PC leadership convention, but was eliminated on the third ballot.

As both his community's minister and MPP over a period of 38 years, it was joked that he had baptized most of his constituents.

Downer had expected to run in the 1975 election and had expected to win his party's nomination by acclamation but was upset by another candidate, George McCague, at the Progressive Conservative nomination meeting.