# 23rd Parliament of Ontario

The 23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario was in session from June 2, 1948, until October 6, 1951, just prior to the 1951 general election. The majority party was the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, however its leader, George Drew, lost his seat in the 1948 general election and soon after resigned as party leader to enter federal politics and take the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He was replaced on October 19, 1948, by Thomas Laird Kennedy who served as premier and interim Progressive Conservative leader until Leslie Frost became party leader and succeeded Kennedy as premier on May 4, 1949.
The official opposition was led by Ted Jolliffe of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).
M.C. Davies served as speaker for the assembly.
On April 5, 1951, the Fair Employment Practices Act and the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act were passed. The first act introduced fines and a complaint procedure to deal with discrimination based on race or religion in hiring practices. The second act was intended to ensure that female workers were paid the same wage as a male worker doing the same work for the same employer.

## Members of the Assembly

| Riding | Member | Party | First elected / previously elected |
| Addington | John Abbott Pringle | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Algoma—Manitoulin | John Arthur Fullerton | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Beaches | Reid Scott | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Bellwoods | Albert Alexander MacLeod | Labour-Progressive | 1943 |
| Bracondale | Harry Lindley Walters | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Brant | Harry Corwin Nixon | Liberal | 1919 |
| Brantford | George Thomas Gordon | Liberal | 1948 |
| Bruce | T. Kenzie Foster | Liberal | 1948 |
| Carleton | Donald Hugo Morrow | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Cochrane North | John Carrère | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Cochrane North | Marcel Léger (1949) | Progressive Conservative | 1949 |
| Cochrane South | Bill Grummett | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943 |
| Dovercourt | George Eamon Park | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Dufferin—Simcoe | Alfred Wallace Downer | Progressive Conservative | 1937 |
| Durham | John Weir Foote | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Eglinton | Leslie Blackwell | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Elgin | Fletcher Stewart Thomas | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Essex North | Gordon Bennett Ellis | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Essex South | William Murdoch | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Fort William | Charles Winnans Cox | Liberal | 1934, 1948 |
| Glengarry | Osie Villeneuve | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Grenville—Dundas | George Holmes Challies | Progressive Conservative | 1929 |
| Grey North | Mackinnon Phillips | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Grey South | Farquhar Robert Oliver | Liberal | 1926 |
| Haldimand—Norfolk | Charles Hammond Martin | Progressive Conservative | 1944 |
| Halton | Stanley Leroy Hall | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Hamilton Centre | Robert Desmond Thornberry | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |
| Hamilton East | John Lawrence Dowling | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Hamilton—Wentworth | Russell Temple Kelley | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Hastings East | Roscoe Robson | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Hastings West | Elmer Sandercock | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| High Park | William Horace Temple | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Huron | Thomas Pryde | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Huron—Bruce | John William Hanna | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Kenora | James George White | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Kent East | Edward B. McMillan | Liberal | 1948 |
| Kent West | George William Parry | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Kingston | Harry Allan Stewart | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Lambton East | Charles Eusibius Janes | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Lambton West | Bryan Lewis Cathcart | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Lanark | George Henry Doucett | Progressive Conservative | 1937 |
| Leeds | Walter Bain Reynolds | Progressive Conservative | 1937 |
| Leeds | Hugh Alexander Reynolds (1949) | Progressive Conservative | 1949 |
| Lincoln | Charles Daley | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| London | Campbell Carlyle Calder | Liberal | 1948 |
| Middlesex North | Thomas L. Patrick | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Middlesex South | Harry Marshall Allen | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Muskoka—Ontario | George Arthur Welsh | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Niagara Falls | William Houck | Liberal | 1934, 1948 |
| Nipissing | William Bruce Harvey | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Northumberland | William Arthur Goodfellow | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Ontario | T.D. Thomas | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Ottawa East | Aurele Chartrand | Liberal | 1945 |
| Ottawa South | George Harrison Dunbar | Progressive Conservative | 1937 |
| Oxford | Thomas Roy Dent | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Parkdale | Lloyd F. K. Fell | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Parry Sound | Charles Wilson Cragg | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Parry Sound | Allister Johnston (1948) | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Peel | Thomas Laird Kennedy | Progressive Conservative | 1919, 1937 |
| Perth | James Frederick Edwards | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Peterborough | Harold Robinson Scott | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Port Arthur | Frederick Oliver Robinson | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943 |
| Prescott | Louis-Pierre Cécile | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Prince Edward—Lennox | John Donald Baxter | Liberal | 1948 |
| Rainy River | James Melvin Newman | Liberal-Labour | 1945 |
| Renfrew North | Stanley Joseph Hunt | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Renfrew South | James Shannon Dempsey | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Riverdale | Leslie Emery Wismer | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |
| Russell | Joseph Daniel Nault | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | George Isaac Harvey | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943 |
| Simcoe Centre | George Graham Johnston | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| Simcoe East | John Duncan McPhee | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| St. Andrew | Joseph Baruch Salsberg | Labour-Progressive | 1943 |
| St. David | William David Dennison | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |
| St. George | Dana Harris Porter | Progressive Conservative | 1943 |
| St. Patrick | Charles Edward Rea | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Stormont | John Lawrence McDonald | Progressive Conservative | 1943, 1948 |
| Sudbury | Welland Stewart Gemmell | Progressive Conservative | 1948 |
| Timiskaming | Calvin Howard Taylor | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943 |
| Victoria | Leslie Miscampbell Frost | Progressive Conservative | 1937 |
| Waterloo North | John George Brown | Liberal | 1948 |
| Waterloo South | Theodore Henry Isley | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Welland | Harold William Walker | Liberal | 1948 |
| Wellington North | Ross Atkinson McEwing | Liberal | 1937 |
| Wellington South | William Ernest Hamilton | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Wentworth | Joseph Lees Easton | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1948 |
| Windsor—Sandwich | William Griesinger | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Windsor—Walkerville | M.C. Davies | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| Woodbine | Bertram Elijah Leavens | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |
| York East | Agnes Campbell MacPhail | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |
| York North | Addison Alexander MacKenzie | Progressive Conservative | 1945 |
| York South | Edward Bigelow Jolliffe | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |
| York West | Charles Hibbert Millard | Co-operative Commonwealth | 1943, 1948 |

## Timeline

23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario - Movement in seats held (1948-1951) :
| Party | Party | 1948 | Gain/(loss) due to | Gain/(loss) due to | 1951 |
| Party | Party | 1948 | Death in office | Byelection hold | 1951 |
| | Progressive Conservative | 53 | (3) | 3 | 53 |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | 21 | | | 21 |
| | Liberal | 13 | | | 13 |
| | Labor–Progressive | 2 | | | 2 |
| | Liberal–Labour | 1 | | | 1 |
| Total | Total | 90 | (3) | 3 | 90 |
Changes in seats held (1948–1951) :
| Seat | Before | Before | Before | Before | Change | Change | Change |
| Seat | Date | Member | Party | Reason | Date | Member | Party |
| Parry Sound | August 19, 1948 | Charles Cragg | █ PC | Died in office | December 9, 1948 | Allister Johnston | █ PC |
| Cochrane North | October 6, 1948 | John Carrère | █ PC | Died in office | June 8, 1949 | Marcel Léger | █ PC |
| Leeds | March 12, 1949 | Walter Bain Reynolds | █ PC | Died in office | October 31, 1949 | Hugh Reynolds | █ PC |