Léo Gauthier
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Jeremiah Léoda Gauthier (December 29, 1904 – January 17, 1964) was a Canadian Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1958.<ref name=railtown>C.M. Wallace and Ashley Thomson, Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital. Dundurn Press, 1993. Template:ISBN. p. 209.</ref> A member of the Liberal Party caucus, he represented three different ridings over the course of his career as the city of Sudbury grew in size and importance to warrant one, and then two, ridings of its own.<ref name=globeobit>"Northern MP For 13 Years, Retired in 1958". The Globe and Mail, January 18, 1964.</ref>
Background
Born in Copper Cliff, Ontario, Gauthier owned a lumber company in the Sudbury area,<ref name=railtown/> and was one of the founding shareholders in Sudbury Broadcasting, F. Baxter Ricard's radio company which established CHNO and CFBR.<ref name=globeobit/> He was active in politics as an organizer, and as campaign manager for provincial MPP James Cooper.<ref name=globeobit/>
He also served on the boards of the Sudbury Wolves<ref>"Lumber Kings Hockey Rally Nets $3,000". Ottawa Journal, February 12, 1954.</ref> and the Victorian Order of Nurses.<ref name=globeobit/>
Political career
In the 1945 election, he was first elected to represent the riding of Nipissing, which he represented for a single term.<ref name=globeobit/> In 1947, he was one of several MPs from Northern Ontario who lobbied the government to provide tax relief to the region's gold mines.<ref>"Northern MP's Urge Tax Relief". Ottawa Journal, February 26, 1947.</ref> The following year, he was one of six MPs who demanded that the government of Mackenzie King reinstitute food subsidies and remove the sales tax from food, to counter the rising cost of living and the emerging power of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.<ref>"Liberals Rap Living Cost In Protest to Mr. King: Polls Mirror Price Trend, MP's Claim". The Globe and Mail, June 18, 1948.</ref>
In the 1949 election, he shifted to the new riding of Sudbury, which he also represented for a single term. In the 1953 election, he became the first MP for Nickel Belt,<ref>"PC'S Gain Six Seats in Ontario". The Globe and Mail, August 11, 1953.</ref>
During his time as an MP, he played a role in securing government funding for the construction of the Sudbury Airport,<ref>"Sudbury to get second runway". The Globe and Mail, July 11, 1953.</ref> although he raised a public objection when he did not receive a formal invitation to the airport's official opening in 1954.<ref>"Finance at large". The Globe and Mail, February 3, 1954.</ref>
He was reelected in the 1957 election, which resulted in the election of John Diefenbaker's short-lived minority government, but retired at the 1958 election for health reasons.<ref name=globeobit/>
He died on January 17, 1964, at Memorial Hospital in Sudbury.<ref name=globeobit/>