Some Canadian politicians and their chess interests

[Frank Dixon]

A few days ago, I posted here about the (hitherto-unknown-to-me) chess interest of Louis St. Laurent, who served as prime minister 1948-57.

Other Canadian chess players with political achievements include the following:

1) GM D.A. Yanofsky: In addition to being the first GM developed in a Commonwealth nation, he also served on Winnipeg City Council and was mayor of a community which has since been absorbed into metro Winnipeg;

2) Nathan Divinsky: Played for Canada on two Olympiad teams, chess author, he also served on Vancouver City Council;

3) Rob Hutchison: Kingston player and organizer, with peak rating just below 2000; he ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in two federal elections, and is now serving his second term on Kingston City Council;

4) Ted Hsu: As a player, he achieved a peak rating just below 2000; earned PhD in physics from Princeton; serving currently as MP for Kingston and the Islands;

5) Andrew Bonar Law: Was a keen player in his youth, growing up in Scotland, where his family moved after living in New Brunswick; the only person born in Canada to become Prime Minister of Britain, in the 1920s;

6) Jean Chretien: This was unknown to me until recently; apparently a keen and fairly strong player (but not sure if he has played rated chess!); served as PM from 1993 to 2003, and before that in many Cabinet posts;

7) Leo Williams: Quebec Master ran for political office (not sure of his success at that).

[Ken Craft]

Re: Some Canadian politicians and their chess interests

Bernard Lord played chess in his youth.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Some Canadian politicians and their chess interests

Former NB premier Bernard Lord had (has) a CFC rating. I wonder if Bonar Law was any inspiration to Bernard Lord in his political career. The names are similar. I'll speculate that somewhere in Britain or Canada, there is a pair of accents where you couldn't tell the two names apart.

I vaguely recall that senior cabinet minister Mitchell Sharp was a chess player. Amongst the chattels at Kingsmere is a chess set. I don't know if that means WLMK was a player, or whether chess was such a universal cultural touchstone that providing a chess set was de rigueur for those mosquito-infested summer evenings.

BC MLA Roy Cummings was a CFC-rated "A"-player. His advocacy with the NDP cabinet played in a role in the BC governement providing seed money to the British Columbia Chess Federation for "Vancouver 1975", which if you factor in the subsequent annual Paul Keres Memorial tournaments, must constitute an outstanding return on tourist dollar investment--to say nothing of the wider cultural value.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Some Canadian politicians and their chess interests

Leo Williams ran (unsuccessfully) for the Green Party in suburban Montreal in the 2006 federal election.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliame...Election=12101

A regular of a now defunct chess bar/cafe in Montreal (Michel Bedard) ran for mayor of Montreal for a "joke" party (e.g something like the Rhinoceros Party) several times. I remember him having a big corn roast in the park across the street from the cafe to publicise himself.

He finished 5th (out of 8) in 1990; 5th (out of 11) in 1994; 5th (out of 8) in 1998; 3rd (out of 12) in 2001; 4th (out of 4) in 2005; 5th (out of 6) in 2009.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Some Canadian politicians and their chess interests

Thanks very much to Ken, Jon, and Hugh for their submissions. :)

I'm going to add another person, although the political context is slightly different with him.

FM Rob Hawkes is the son of former MP Jim Hawkes, who managed Joe Clark's successful federal PC leadership campaign in 1976. Jim was MP for Calgary West and a professor of psychology at the University of Calgary; he eventually lost his seat to Stephen Harper (now Conservative PM), who ran for the Reform Party; Harper had been Jim's riding assistant in earlier times. Rob was Alberta champion in the 1980s. Rob was married at one time to current Alberta Premier Allison Redford, and, after their divorce, managed her transition team heading into her short first term as premier; she has since been re-elected this past spring. Rob is a Calgary lawyer who has not played competitive chess for quite a while now.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Some Canadian politicians and their chess interests

While he, Gerhard Herzberg, was not a true politician though he was sworn to Queen's Privy Council for Canada. His vision contributed more to the Canadian science development. His own achievements in physics earn him the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1971
There is not much about chess in his biography book except that he liked to play, and as a proof the book has a picture in chess action. Maybe those who knew him may share more details.