Walter Thomson

{{short description|Canadian politician and lawyer}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Walter Cunningham Thomson | honorific_suffix = | image = Walter Cunningham Thomson.jpg | office = Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party | term_start = 1950 | term_end = 1954 | predecessor = Farquhar Oliver | successor = Farquhar Oliver | riding1 = Ontario | parliament1 = Canadian | term_start1 = 1949 | term_end1 = 1951 | predecessor1 = Arthur Williams | successor1 = Michael Starr | birth_date = {{birth date|1895|12|21}} | birth_place = Hastings County, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|1964|04|27|1895|12|21}} | death_place = | party = Liberal | spouse = | profession = Lawyer, rancher }} '''Walter Cunningham Thomson''' (December 21, 1895 – April 27, 1964) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and rancher in Ontario, Canada.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/fr_CA/People/Profile?personId=16650 | title=Profil }}</ref> He was leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1950 to 1954 and was a federal Member of Parliament from 1949 to 1951.

Walter Cunningham Thomson was born on December 21, 1895 in Hastings, Ontario, the son of Reverend David Anderson Thomson and Janet née MacMillan.

On February 29, 1916, he enlisted into the army and was posted to the 93rd Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, as a Lieutenant.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.canadianletters.ca/collections/all/collection/65063 | title=Thomson, Walter Cunningham | Canadian Letters }}</ref>

In 1923 he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario as a solicitor. On June 25, 1924, he married Greeta Brophy Whitehead in Toronto.

In 1930 they settled on a dairy farm near Pickering, Ontario, where he opened a law practice in 1935.

In 1944 he was appointed as Ontario Solicitor for the Veteran’s Land Act.<ref name=RDA>{{cite news|title=Obituary for Walter Cunningham Thomson|newspaper=Red Deer Advocate|date=28 April 1964|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/red-deer-advocate-obituary-for-walter-cu/68805013/}}</ref>

Thomson first ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party at the 1943 leadership convention but came in fourth place losing to Harry Nixon. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1949 federal election.<ref name=RDA/>

In 1950, he ran again in the 1950 Ontario Liberal leadership convention and won, defeating social reformer Harry Cassidy.<ref name=RDA/> He resigned his seat in the House of Commons the next year but in the 1951 Ontario provincial election, he failed to win election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and the Liberals lost six of the 13 seats they had previously held. He remained leader of the party for another three years due to its state of disorganization. He resigned as leader on May 31, 1954, and was replaced by Farquhar Oliver.

On April 27, 1963,<ref name="RDA" /> he died of a heart attack, whilst he was being treated at a Toronto hospital. Thomson was buried at the Erskine Cemetery in Dunbarton, Ontario.

==External links== * {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=16650}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Walter}} Category:1895 births Category:1964 deaths Category:Canadian Presbyterians Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs Category:Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada