John Hnatyshyn

Who was John Hnatyshyn?

John Hnatyshyn was a Canadian lawyer, Senator and father of Ray Hnatyshyn, the twenty-fourth Governor General of Canada.

Born in a Ukrainian part of Austro-Hungary, the son of Michael and Anna Hnatyshyn, he came to Canada when he was two months old. Raised on a farm near Canora, Saskatchewan, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1930 and a Bachelor of Law degree in 1932 from the University of Saskatchewan. He was called to the Saskatchewan bar in 1933 and practised law in Saskatoon. In 1935, 1940, and 1945, he tried unsuccessfully to get elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the riding of Yorkton. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in 1952. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1957.

In 1959, he was appointed by John Diefenbaker to the Senate representing the senatorial division of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A Progressive Conservative he died in office in 1967.

He married Helen Pitts in 1931 and had four children: Ramon John, Victor, David and Elizabeth.