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William (Bill) Grenville Davis (born July 30, 1929 in Brampton, Ontario) was the Progressive Conservative Premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985.
He was politically active from an early age. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1951 and attended Osgoode Hall Law School. He was first elected to provincial parliament in 1959, and in 1962 he became Ontario education minister under Premier John Robarts. He presided over the reshaping of the Ontario education system, creating new universities including Trent University and Brock University and also creating TV Ontario, in 1970.
Davis became the province's Progressive Conservative Party leader and premier after the resignation of Robarts in 1971.
The Tories lost support during the 1975 election and were reelected with a minority government which was able to stay in power due to the competition between the Ontario New Democratic Party and the Ontario Liberal Party and the inability of either opposition party to become the clear alternative to the Tories. Davis called a snap election in 1977 but was again returned with only a minority. The Tories were able to avoid defeat in the legislature during both minority governments by moving to the left and seeking support from either the NDP or the Liberals (or both) for its legislation. The Davis government was a period of expansion for the province's public health and education systems and Davis was particularly interested in developing a network of community
colleges which he began as education minister in the Robarts government.
Unlike most provincial premiers in Canada, he supported prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's plans to patriate the Canadian Constitution from Britain and rewrite it significantly. Davis' role in the constitutional negotiations of 1981 were pivotal in achieving a compromise that resulted in the passage of the 1982 Constitution.
Davis considered moving to federal politics by running to lead the federal Progressive Conservatives in 1983 but he decided not to do so when he realised that he wouldn't receive support from western Canada. He retired a few months before the election of 1985, and was succeeded by Frank Miller, who was elected leader at a February 1985 leadership convention. The Progressive Conservatives lost the election, ending its 42 year period of rule over the province.
In 1985 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. In retirement Davis has served on numerous corporate boards. In 2003, he played a role in the successful negotiations to merge the federal Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance and create the new Conservative Party of Canada.
He is known, primarily by Bramptonians, as Brampton Billy.
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