Jacques Flynn

Jacques Flynn, PC OC QC (August 22, 1915 – September 21, 2000) was a Canadian politician and Senator.

Flynn was born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, the grandson of the Premier of Quebec Edmund James Flynn. He both graduated in law from Université Laval and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1939.

A Progressive Conservative, Flynn ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 election. He won the riding of Quebec South in the 1958 election when John George Diefenbaker led the PC Party to a landslide victory.

Flynn became Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada in 1960. In December 1961, Prime Minister Diefenbaker brought Flynn into the Canadian Cabinet as Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys, a position he held until losing his seat in the 1962 election that reduced the Conservatives to a minority government. Later that year, he was appointed to the Senate.

Flynn served as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1967 until the 1979 election that brought the Tories back to power. Prime Minister Joe Clark brought Flynn into Cabinet as Minister of Justice. It was unusual for a Senator to hold such a senior cabinet portfolio, but as the Conservatives were elected with virtually no representation from Quebec, it was necessary to attempt to achieve regional balance in Cabinet by appointing Senators to the body.

With the defeat of the Clark government in the 1980 election, Flynn returned to the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. He continued in that role until 1984. He remained in the Upper House until his retirement in 1990.

In 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[1]