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John Lynch-Staunton (born June 19, 1930) is a Canadian senator and was the first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Lynch-Staunton was educated at Collège Stanislas and Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal. He then obtained a B.Sc. from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1953, and a History degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario before pursuing a career in business.
He was appointed to the Senate by Brian Mulroney on September 23, 1990, representing the Senatorial Division of Grandville. The following year, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, and became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in December, 1993 following the Liberal victory in that year's general election.
On December 8, 2003, with the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ratified by both parties, Lynch-Staunton served as interim leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada until the election of Stephen Harper in March 2004. He remained Leader of the Opposition in the Senate until September 30 2004 and is scheduled to retire from parliament when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 75 on June 19, 2005.
Lynch-Staunton has been married to Juliana deKuyper since 1958, and has five children.
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