Dana Porter

Who was Dana Porter?

Dana Harris Porter was a Canadian politician and jurist.

After graduating from the University of Toronto in 1921, Porter went to England to continue his studies at Balliol College, Oxford from which he graduated with a Master's degree in 1923. He returned to Toronto where he was called to the bar, and joined the firm of Fennel, Porter & Davis.

Porter entered politics winning a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the downtown Toronto riding of St. George in the 1943 provincial election that brought the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario to power.

He joined the cabinet of Ontario Premier George Drew as Minister of Planning and Development in 1944. In 1947, he instituted an airlift of 10,000 British immigrants to the province over the objections of the federal government. In 1948, he was appointed Minister of Education and Provincial Secretary. When Drew left provincial politics to take the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Porter ran to succeed him as provincial leader, but won only 65 votes in the 1949 provincial Tory leadership convention. He lost to Leslie Frost.