John Gilbert

Who was John Gilbert?

John Gilbert was a Canadian lawyer, politician and jurist.

Gilbert was born in Toronto and grew up in a poor working-class family which he helped support during the Great Depression by selling newspapers at the corner of Yonge and Bloor for two cents each and by gathering coal that had fallen off horse-drawn coal wagons in order to help heat his family's home. The home was eventually lost when the bank foreclosed on its mortgage. He was the youngest of five children, his parents were poor Irish Protestants who had immigrated to Canada. He left school early to support his family by working in a box factory until marrying his wife, Nora, and going to university.

As an adult, Gilbert became a lawyer and worked briefly for a large firm. He left it, feeling they charged clients too much, and set up his own private practice. Once a week he went to the Salvation Army to operate a clinic where he gave free legal counsel to the poor. He vowed that every dollar he earned over $5,000 a year he would give away.

He entered federal politics in the 1963 federal election running unsuccessfully as a New Democratic Party candidate in the Toronto riding of Broadview with a third place finish.