George Hees George Harris Hees , PC , OC ( June 17 , 1910 - June 11 , 1996 ) was a Canadian politician . Background . Born in Toronto to a patrician family , Hees earned a playboy image during his youth ( nicknamed Gorgeous George ) , but then became a stalwart member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada . He was educated at the exclusive Crescent School in Toronto , Trinity College School in Port Hope , Ontario , the Royal Military College , student # 1976 ( where he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Military Science in 1986 ) , the University of Toronto , and spent a year at Cambridge University in 1933 . Athlete . He was a noted athlete , winning championships in boxing and lacrosse at Cambridge . As a professional football player he played 3 seasons with the Toronto Argonauts ( 11 regular season and 3 playoff games ) and won the Grey Cup in 1938 . And while serving during the Second World War , he also had the good fortune to play in the famed " Tea Bowl " for the Canadian Army football team against American Army team at White City Stadium on February 13 , 1944 in London , England ( the Canadians won 16 - 6 ) . Military service . He served in the Canadian Army in North - West Europe during the Second World War . During the Battle of the Scheldt , he served as the Brigade Major of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade . On 1 November 1944 , he volunteered to take over command of a company of The Calgary Highlanders when all their officers were killed or wounded after crossing the Walcheren Causeway . He was later wounded by a sniper and was repatriated to Canada and discharged . Politics . After placing second to David Croll in the Toronto riding of Spadina in the 1945 federal election , he won election to the Canadian House of Commons in a 1950 by - election in the nearby riding of Broadview . He was also President of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1953 to 1956 . With the election of the Diefenbaker government in 1957 , Hees was named Minister of Transport , and oversaw the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway . In 1960 , he was appointed Minister of Trade and Commerce . During this period , Hees was regarded as the second most powerful man in the Tory party . However , in 1963 , he had falling out with Diefenbaker , and became embroiled in the Munsinger Affair and elected to sit out the 1963 election , which the Tories lost to Lester Pearson . After considering a defection to the Liberals , he became President of the Montreal Stock Exchange , he returned to Parliament in the 1965 election as a PC , defeating Pauline Jewett in the rural riding of Northumberland , and remained in the front rows of the opposition ranks for almost two decades . He ran for the leadership of the PC Party at its 1967 leadership convention , and placed fourth in a field of eleven on the first ballot . He remained for two further ballots before withdrawing , and supporting the eventual winner , Robert Stanfield . He was noted as being involved in a memorable case of battery , in which he forcefully ejected a campaign worker from his room , striking his head against the door . Hees tried to plead self - defence , which failed due to the lack of imminent harm anticipated by him ( MacDonald v . Hees ( 1974 ) , 46 D . L . R . ( 3d ) ( N . S . T . D . ) ) . He was not named to Cabinet during the Joe Clark government in 1979 , and was quoted as Clark stepped down in the 1983 leadership race ; " We ' ve got him ! We ' ve got the s . o . b . " When Brian Mulroney led the party to a majority government in 1984 , Hees was named Minister of Veterans Affairs . Hees retired from politics in 1988 . In 1989 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada . There is a veterans wing at Toronto ' s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre bearing his name , and in close proximity to the relocated Crescent School he attended as a child .