John Gordon Lane

Who was John Gordon Lane?

John Gordon Lane was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1987 as a Progressive Conservative.

Lane was educated at Ontario schools until age fourteen, and worked as a farmer and insurance executive. He was a councillor in Barrie Island from 1941 to 1960, and was a councillor in Gore Bay for four years, and served as mayor of Gore Bay from 1967 to 1972. With wife Louise, he had two children, Sharon and Ronald.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election, defeating New Democrat Roger Taylor by 1,298 votes in the northern constituency of Algoma—Manitoulin. Lane defeated NDP challenger Winston Baker by 1,127 votes in the 1975 election, and won more convincingly in 1977. He did not face serious challenges in the elections of 1981 and 1985.

Lane was a government backbencher until 1985, when the Progressive Conservative ministry led by Frank Miller was defeated in the legislature. In opposition, he served as his party's critic for Agriculture and Tourism and Recreation. He did not run for re-election in the 1987 provincial election because he wished to spend more time with his family. .