|
Gilbert Layton (November 5, 1899 - May 29, 1961) was a Quebec businessman and politician.
Layton was a merchant and business executive in the family firm of Layton Brothers from 1918 to 1932. He was elected to Quebec's legislative assembly in 1936 as a member of the Union Nationale. He served as minister without portfolio in the government of Maurice Duplessis until resigining in 1939 to protest the Quebec government's opposition to conscription in World War II. He ran for re-election to the legislature as an independent candidate that year and was defeated. In the 1945 Canadian election he ran as an Independent Progressive Conservative for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons but was defeated coming in fourth place behind the Liberal victor, the official Progressive Conservative candidate and the CCF candidate.
Gilbert Layton's son, Robert Layton, served as a federal Progressive Conservative cabinet minister in the 1980s. His grandson, Jack Layton, became leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada in 2003 and is currently an NDP Member of Parliament.
|