John A. Gamble
Encyclopedia
John Albert Gamble was a far-right
Canadian
politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
as a Progressive Conservative
in the 1979 federal election
and re-elected in the 1980 election
representing the riding of York North
.
He was a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
, but won only 17 votes. Gamble was known for his extreme anti-communist
views. He became so unpopular that he was one of only two Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament to lose their seat in the 1984 general election
, which produced a Progressive Conservative landslide, the largest majority in the history of the Canadian House of Commons. Bill Clarke of Vancouver Quadra
was the other but he lost to Prime Minister John Turner
who needed a seat in the House.) Gamble was defeated by independent candidate Tony Roman
, who was supported by Liberals dissatisfied with their candidate and Tories who wanted to defeat Gamble.
After failing to win a nomination as a Progressive Conservative candidate for the riding of Markham, Gamble ran as an independent in the 1988 election
, winning less than five percent of the vote. On May 31, 1993, Gamble won the Reform Party
's nomination in Don Valley West
for the 1993 federal election
, but was expelled by the party prior to the election because of his links to far-right extremists such as Paul Fromm, Ron Gostick
, Wolfgang Droege
and the Heritage Front
.
In the 1980s, Gamble was involved with the hard-right World Anti-Communist League as head of its affiliate the "Canadian Freedom Foundation". According to a report by the Security Intelligence Review Committee
, Paul Fromm assisted Gamble in this WACL work.http://www.freedomsite.org/exposed/sirc/report/chapter07.html
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
as a Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
in the 1979 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
and re-elected in the 1980 election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
representing the riding of York North
York North
York North was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from Confederation in 1867 until 2004. It is also an electoral district that was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 2007...
.
He was a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1983
The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
, but won only 17 votes. Gamble was known for his extreme anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
views. He became so unpopular that he was one of only two Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament to lose their seat in the 1984 general election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, which produced a Progressive Conservative landslide, the largest majority in the history of the Canadian House of Commons. Bill Clarke of Vancouver Quadra
Vancouver Quadra
Vancouver Quadra is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1949....
was the other but he lost to Prime Minister John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
who needed a seat in the House.) Gamble was defeated by independent candidate Tony Roman
Tony Roman
Anthony Roman was a politician in Ontario, Canada. Roman served as the Mayor of the Town of Markham, Ontario from 1970 to 1984, Chair of the Regional Municipality of York in 1984, and independent Member of Parliament for the riding of York North from 1984 to 1988.Roman won the 1984 election in...
, who was supported by Liberals dissatisfied with their candidate and Tories who wanted to defeat Gamble.
After failing to win a nomination as a Progressive Conservative candidate for the riding of Markham, Gamble ran as an independent in the 1988 election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, winning less than five percent of the vote. On May 31, 1993, Gamble won the Reform Party
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
's nomination in Don Valley West
Don Valley West
Don Valley West is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979. Its population in 2001 was 115,539....
for the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, but was expelled by the party prior to the election because of his links to far-right extremists such as Paul Fromm, Ron Gostick
Ron Gostick
Ronald A. Gostick was a long-time figure on the Canadian far right and founder of the anti-Semitic Canadian League of Rights/ Gostick was involved in the Canadian social credit movement and later published far right and anti-Semitic material over the course of 50 years, including the Canadian...
, Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Walter Droege was a Canadian white supremacist, neo-Nazi and founding leader of the Heritage Front.-Early life:...
and the Heritage Front
Heritage Front
The Heritage Front was a Canadian neo-Nazi white supremacist organization founded in 1989 and disbanded around 2005.The Heritage Front maintained a telephone message line with a different editorial each day. The voice on the hotline was Gary Schipper...
.
In the 1980s, Gamble was involved with the hard-right World Anti-Communist League as head of its affiliate the "Canadian Freedom Foundation". According to a report by the Security Intelligence Review Committee
Security Intelligence Review Committee
The Security Intelligence Review Committee is an independent agency of the government of Canada empowered to oversee and review the operations of Canada's security service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and investigate complaints against CSIS...
, Paul Fromm assisted Gamble in this WACL work.http://www.freedomsite.org/exposed/sirc/report/chapter07.html