Robert Hardy Small was a Progressive Conservative party

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....

 member of 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...

. Although a life-long Toronto resident, Small was born in Morrow, Ohio

Morrow, Ohio

Morrow is a village in Salem Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 1,286, up from 1,206 in 1990...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, near Cincinnati, when his parents were temporarily outside of Canada.

Small studied at the Ontario College of Art

Ontario College of Art & Design

OCAD University is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. It is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on McCaul Street beside the Art Gallery of Ontario...

 before working for advertising company E. L. Ruddy (since acquired by Claude Neon

Georges Claude

Georges Claude was a French engineer and inventor. He is noted for his early work on the industrial liquefaction of air, for the invention and commercialization of neon lighting, and for a large experiment on generating energy by pumping cold seawater up from the depths...

), becoming the company's production manager by his retirement.

Between 1947 and 1951, Small was the Canadian Grand Master of the Orange Lodge

Orange Institution

The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...

, in which he participated for much of his life. In 1928, he gained controversy when he spoke out against federal plans to issue government cheques in both English and French, as proposed in a Liberal party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 private member's bill

Private Member's Bill

A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...

.

Small was first elected at the Danforth

Danforth (electoral district)

Danforth was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario.This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Toronto—Scarborough riding...

 riding in the 1953 general election

Canadian federal election, 1953

The Canadian federal election of 1953 was held on August 10 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St...

 and served three consecutive terms in Parliament before finishing second to New Democratic

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 candidate Reid Scott

Reid Scott

Reid Scott is a retired lawyer and provincial judge in Canada, and a former New Democratic Party of Member of Parliament for the Danforth electoral district, in Toronto, from 1962 to 1968, leaving federal politics when his riding disappeared due to redistribution...

 in the 1962 election

Canadian federal election, 1962

The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...

. Small was again unsuccessful at Danforth in the 1963 election

Canadian federal election, 1963

The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...

, placing third in that campaign behind Scott and Liberal candidate John Whitehead.

On 5 October 1976, Small died unexpectedly at his Toronto home. He was predeceased by his wife in 1961, and by a son in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, but survived by one daughter.

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