John Allen Fraser

Who is John Allen Fraser?

John Allen Fraser, PC, OC, OBC, CD, QC is a retired Canadian parliamentarian and former Speaker of the House of Commons.

Born in Yokohama, Japan, and graduated from the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in Spring 1954. Fraser first won a seat in Parliament in the 1972 general election as a Progressive Conservative from Vancouver. He stood as a candidate at the 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership convention to replace Robert Stanfield, but did poorly. He was re-elected in 1974, 1979, 1980, 1984 and 1988.

In 1979, Fraser became Minister of the Environment in the short-lived government of Joe Clark, returning to the Opposition benches in 1980. He returned to the Cabinet in the wake of Brian Mulroney's landslide victory in the 1984 federal election, and became Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. He was forced to resign in 1985 as a result of the "Tainted Tuna" affair.

In 1986, he became Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, the first to be elected by fellow Members of Parliament, and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1993.