View source for George Hees

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = George Hees
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|OC|size=100%}}
| image            = George Hees.jpg
| alt              = 
| caption          = Hees {{circa}} 1942–1948
| office           = [[Minister of Veterans Affairs (Canada)|Minister of Veterans Affairs]]
| term_start       = September 17, 1984
| term_end         = September 14, 1988
| primeminister    = [[Brian Mulroney]]
| predecessor      = [[Bennett Campbell]]
| successor        = [[Gerald Merrithew]]
| office1          = [[Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry#Preceding offices|Minister of Trade and Commerce]]
| term_start1      = October 11, 1960
| term_end1        = February 8, 1963
| primeminister1   = [[John Diefenbaker]]
| predecessor1     = [[Gordon Churchill]]
| successor1       = [[Malcolm Wallace McCutcheon]]
| office2          = [[Minister of Transport (Canada)|Minister of Transport]]
| term_start2      = June 21, 1957
| term_end2        = October 10, 1960
| primeminister2   = John Diefenbaker
| predecessor2     = [[George Carlyle Marler]]
| successor2       = [[Léon Balcer]]
| riding3          = [[Northumberland (Ontario electoral district)|Northumberland]]<br />{{small|([[Prince Edward—Hastings (federal electoral district)|Prince Edward—Hastings]]; 1968–1979)}}
| parliament3      = Canadian
| term_start3      = November 8, 1965
| term_end3        = November 21, 1988
| predecessor3     = [[Pauline Jewett]]
| successor3       = [[Christine Stewart]]
| riding4          = [[Broadview (federal electoral district)|Broadview]]
| parliament4      = Canadian
| term_start4      = May 15, 1950
| term_end4        = April 8, 1963
| predecessor4     = [[Thomas Langton Church|Thomas Church]]
| successor4       = [[David Hahn (Canadian politician)|David Hahn]]
| party            = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]
| birth_name       = George Harris Hees
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1910|06|17}}
| birth_place      = [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1996|06|11|1910|06|17}}
| death_place      = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| spouse           = {{Marriage|Mabel Dunlop|1934|1993|reason=died}}
| residence        =
| profession       = {{hlist|Politician|soldier|businessman}}
}}
{{Infobox Canadian Football League biography
|name=George Hees
|image=
|Position=Center
|number=
|College=[[University of Toronto]] & [[Royal Military College of Canada|Royal Military College]]
|Height_ft=6
|Height_in=3
|Weight_lbs=200
|playing_years1=1934, 1937–38
|playing_team1=[[Toronto Argonauts]]
|career_highlights=
* [[Grey Cup]] champion ([[26th Grey Cup|1938]])
|CFLAllStar=
|Awards=
|Honours=
|CFHOF=
|CFHOFYear=
}}

'''George Harris Hees''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|OC}} (June 17, 1910 – June 11, 1996) was a Canadian [[politician]] and businessman.

==Background==
Born in [[Toronto]], Hees was educated at the exclusive [[Crescent School (Toronto)|Crescent School]] in Toronto, [[Trinity College School]] in [[Port Hope, Ontario]], the [[Royal Military College of Canada|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 [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] in 1933.

==Athlete==
He was a noted athlete, winning championships in [[boxing]] and [[lacrosse]] at Cambridge. As a professional [[Canadian football|football]] player he was a star linebacker with the [[Toronto Argonauts]] team that won the [[1938 Grey Cup]].<ref name = "Obit VANSUN">
{{Cite news
| last1           = Broome
| first1          = Douglas
| title           = The (publicly) dapper, (privately) determined George Hees
| work            = [[The Vancouver Sun]]
| date            = 14 June 1996
| page            = A19
| url             = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-the-publicly-dapper/150417501/ 
| access-date     = 1 July 2024
| via             = Newspapers.com

}}</ref> While serving during the Second World War, he played in the famed ''Tea Bowl'' for the Canadian Army football team against American Army team at [[White City Stadium]] in London on February 13, 1944; the Canadians won 16-6.<ref name = "Coffee/Tea Bowl">
{{Cite news
| last1            = Twatio
| first1           = Bill
| title            = The coffee & tea bowls: football classics: Canada vs. the United States in wartime London as Spitfires fly cover
| work             = [[Esprit de Corps (magazine)|Esprit de Corps]]
| date             = 1 November 2004
| url              = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+coffee+%26+tea+bowls%3A+football+classics%3A+Canada+vs.+the+United...-a0125648075 
| access-date      = 1 July 2024
| archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20141128201348/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+coffee+%26+tea+bowls%3A+football+classics%3A+Canada+vs.+the+United...-a0125648075
| archive-date     = 28 November 2014
| url-status       = live
| via              = [[The Free Library]]
}}</ref>

==Military service==
He attended The Royal Military College of Canada from 1927 to 1931.  He then attended the University of Toronto and concurrently served for four years with [[The Royal Regiment of Canada|The Royal Grenadiers]], a Militia Regiment based in Toronto. 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 [[Battle of Walcheren Causeway|Walcheren Causeway]]. He was wounded in the arm during the battle, evacuated, and repatriated to Canada where he was discharged from active service.

==Politics==
After placing second to [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] candidate [[David Croll]] in the Toronto riding of [[Spadina (electoral district)|Spadina]] in the [[1945 Canadian federal election|1945 federal election]], he won election to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in a 1950 by-election in the nearby riding of [[Broadview (federal electoral district)|Broadview]]. He was also President of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1953 to 1956. He considered running for the party leadership when [[George A. Drew]] was forced to step down in 1956, but instead supported the campaign of the eventual winner, [[John Diefenbaker]].

{{stack|[[File:GeorgeHeesVisitsEskimos.jpg|thumb|Hees visiting [[Inuit]] in [[Iqaluit|Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories]], 1958.]]}}

When the PCs under Diefenbaker won government in [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957]], Hees was named [[Minister of Transport (Canada)|Minister of Transport]], and oversaw the opening of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] and the new [[Halifax Stanfield International Airport|Halifax International Airport]].<ref name = "YHZ Opened 1960">{{cite news| author = Times Staff |title=$18,000,000 Airport at Halifax To Be Formally Opened Today|work=The New York Times|date=10 September 1960|page=42 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/09/10/99796607.html?pageNumber=42 | access-date = 1 July 2024 | url-access = subscription}}</ref> In 1960, he was appointed [[Minister of International Trade (Canada)|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 fell out with Diefenbaker, and became embroiled in the [[Munsinger Affair]] and elected to sit out the [[1963 Canadian federal election|1963 election]]. In that election, the Liberals replaced the Tories' [[minority government]] with one of their own, causing Diefenbaker's succession with [[Lester B. Pearson]] as [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister]].

Hees considered leaving the Conservatives for the Liberals, but did not do so. He became president of the [[Montreal Stock Exchange]]. He returned to Parliament in the [[1965 Canadian federal election|1965 election]] as a PC, defeating Liberal MP [[Pauline Jewett]] in the rural riding of [[Northumberland (Ontario electoral district)|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 Progressive Conservative leadership convention|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, [[Nova Scotia]] [[Premier of Nova Scotia|Premier]] [[Robert Stanfield]].

He was noted for being involved in a [[1972 Canadian federal election|1972 election campaign]] incident. On 22 September 1972, Hees forcefully ejected campaign worker Douglas MacDonald from his motel room in [[Trenton, Nova Scotia]]. He struck MacDonald's head against the door, shattering some glass that lacerated him in several places. During the trial, Hees tried to plead self-defence. His plea failed and on 22 February 1974, the [[Nova Scotia Supreme Court]] ordered him to pay $6,175 to MacDonald.<ref name = "1974 Assault Verdict">
{{Cite news
| author       = CP Staff
| title        = Hees must pay $6,175 to man he threw out
| work         = [[The Toronto Star]]
| page         = A3
| edition      = Two Star
| date         = 23 February 1974
| url          = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-hees-must-pay-6175-to/150415993/
| access-date  = 1 July 2024
| via          = Newspapers.com
}}</ref>

He was not named to Cabinet during the [[Joe Clark]] government in 1979–80, and was quoted saying, as Clark stepped down in the 1983 leadership race, "We've got him! We've got the S.O.B."

In 1981, Hees was the Chairman of the Canada-US Permanent Joint Board on Defence. In this role, he was the first Canadian to bring to the attention of then-Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] the US request to test nuclear-capable cruise missiles over Canadian territory.<ref name = "Cruise Missle Testing">
{{Cite book
| last1        = Clearwater
| first1       = John Murray
| title        = Just Dummies: Cruise Missile Testing in Canada 
| publisher    = [[University of Calgary Press]]
| year         = 2006
| pages        = 4–5
| url          = https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv6gqvz1
| url-access   = subscription
| isbn         = 978-1-55238-378-0
 }}</ref>

When [[Brian Mulroney]] led the party to a majority government in [[1984 Canadian federal election|1984]], Hees was named [[Minister of Veterans Affairs (Canada)|Minister of Veterans Affairs]]. Hees retired from politics at the [[1988 Canadian federal election]]. 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 near the relocated [[Crescent School (Toronto)|Crescent School]] he attended as a child.

==Election results (partial)==
{{1958 Canadian federal election/Broadview}}

==In popular culture==
Hees was portrayed by [[Christopher Plummer]] in the 1997 TV miniseries ''[[The Arrow (miniseries)|The Arrow]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{occ|2643}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=10352}}

{{26th Grey Cup}}
{{Mulroney Ministry}}
{{Diefenbaker Ministry}}
{{CA-Ministers of Transport}}
{{CA-Ministers of Veterans Affairs}}
{{CA-Ministers for International Trade}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hees, George}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian Anglicans]]
[[Category:Ministers of transport of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the 18th Canadian Ministry]]
[[Category:Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Politicians from Toronto]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Royal Military College of Canada alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian football people from Toronto]]
[[Category:Toronto Argonauts players]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian sportsperson-politicians]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from Ontario]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:Minister of veterans affairs of Canada]]