Thomas Laird Kennedy
| Thomas Laird Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The Hon. Thomas Laird Kennedy | |
| 15th Premier of Ontario | |
| In office October 19, 1948 – May 4, 1949 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Lieutenant Governor | Ray Lawson |
| Preceded by | George Drew |
| Succeeded by | Leslie Frost |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Peel | |
| In office October 20, 1919 – April 3, 1934 | |
| Preceded by | James Robinson Fallis |
| Succeeded by | Duncan Marshall |
| In office October 6, 1937 – February 13, 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Duncan Marshall |
| Succeeded by | Bill Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 15, 1878 Dixie near Mississauga, Ontario |
| Died | February 13, 1959 (aged 80) Mississauga, Ontario |
| Political party | Ontario PC Party |
| Cabinet | Minister of Agriculture (1930–1934 & 1943–1953) |
| Religion | Anglican |
Thomas Laird Kennedy (August 15, 1878 – February 13, 1959) was a politician in Ontario, Canada and served briefly as the 15th Premier of Ontario. He was first elected as the Conservative member for Peel in the 1919 provincial election. He had been a longtime resident of Streetsville, Ontario, where he was Master of River Park Masonic Lodge in 1908 and 1909; Streetsville is now part of Mississauga.
Kennedy was first appointed Minister of Agriculture in 1930 by Premier Howard Ferguson and continued in the position under Premier George S. Henry until the Conservative government's defeat in the 1934 provincial election. Kennedy was a casualty in the election losing his seat to the landslide that elected the government of Liberal Mitchell Hepburn. Kennedy returned to the legislature in the 1937 election and returned to government when the newly renamed Progressive Conservatives won the 1943 election.
The new premier, George Drew, returned Kennedy to the position of Minister of Agriculture he had held a decade previously. Drew moved to federal politics in 1948 after losing his own seat in the 1948 provincial election which, nevertheless, re-elected the Tory government.
Kennedy became interim Premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in October 1948 following Drew's departure and remained so for seven months until the party could hold its April 27, 1949 leadership convention which elected Leslie Frost as the new party leader, who was thus appointed as Premier. Kennedy continued as Minister of Agriculture during this period.
Frost succeeded Kennedy as Premier on May 4, 1949, and kept Kennedy as Agriculture Minister until 1953, when he stepped down from Cabinet at the age of 75. He remained a member of the legislature until his death in 1959. Thomas L. Kennedy Secondary School in Mississauga, which first opened to students in 1953, was named in his honour. It is the oldest school of its kind in the city that is still in operation.
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