Arthur Maloney

Who was Arthur Maloney?

Arthur Edward Martin Maloney QC was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons and first Ontario Ombudsman from 1975 to 1979.

Maloney was born in Eganville, Ontario. He became a noted defence lawyer following his 1943 graduation from Osgoode Hall. In 1952 he unsuccessfully defended notorious bank robbers of The Boyd Gang. He was the son of Martin James Maloney, another Member of Parliament.

He was first elected at the Parkdale riding in the 1957 general election and re-elected for a second term in Parliament in the 1958 election. From August 1957 to February 1958 he was Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour. He was a principal author of the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights. Maloney was defeated by Stanley Haidasz of the Liberal party in the 1962 election.

Several years of poor health began in 1979 when Maloney incurred a stroke, ending with a cancer diagnosis. In 1984, Maloney died at his residence in Rockwood, Ontario from that cancer. His funeral at Toronto's St. Michael's Cathedral was officiated by Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter and politician-turned-priest Sean O'Sullivan. Various political colleagues such as Roland Michener, John Crosbie and Ray Hnatyshyn attended the funeral.