John Melville Turner

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John Melville Turner (born September 24, 1922 – January 20, 2013^[1]) 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.^[2] He was the Speaker of the Ontario Legislature from 1981 to 1985.

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 in Peterborough from 1969 to 1971, and also served on the city health board.

Political career

Turner was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1971 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 Gill Sandeman by 505 votes in the 1975 election.

Turner defeated Sandeman by 2,648 votes in the 1977 election, and again served as a backbench supporter of Davis's government. He defeated Liberal Party candidate Peter Adams by 6,699 votes in the 1981 election, and 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.

Turner was a member of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, and a member of the Peterborough Rotary Club.

Electoral record

v t e Ontario general election, 1985: Peterborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp
	Progressive Conservative	John Melville Turner	16,878	43.03
	New Democratic Party	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

v t e Ontario general election, 1981: 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 Party	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

References

↑ "The Peterborough Examiner". yourlifemoments. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
↑ "John Melville Turner, MPP". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved 28 December 2010.

v t e Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Stevenson Scott Currie Wells Clarke Baxter Ballantyne Balfour Evanturel Charlton St. John Crawford Hoyle Jamieson Parliament Thompson Black Kidd Hipel Clark Stewart Hepburn Davies Downer Murdoch Morrow Cass Reuter Rowe Stokes Turner Edighoffer Warner McLean Doyle Stockwell Carr Curling Brown Peters Levac

Persondata
Name	Turner, John Melville
Alternative names
Short description	Canadian politician
Date of birth	September 24, 1922
Place of birth
Date of death	January 20, 2013
Place of death	Peterborough, Ontario

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