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George Isaac Smith

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Monarch
  
Elizabeth II

Name
  
George Smith

Preceded by
  
Robert Stanfield

Role
  
Lawyer

Appointed by
  
Pierre Trudeau

Succeeded by
  
Gerald Regan

Occupation
  
lawyer


Preceded by
  
Gordon Purdy Robert F. McLellan

Born
  
April 6, 1909 Stewiacke, Nova Scotia (
1909-04-06
)

Died
  
December 19, 1982, Truro, Canada

Political party
  
Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia

Lieutenant governor
  
Henry Poole MacKeen, Victor de Bedia Oland

George Isaac Smith (April 6, 1909 – December 19, 1982), usually referred to as G.I. Smith, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 18th Premier of Nova Scotia from 1967 to 1970. He was a Canadian senator from 1975 until his death. G.I. Smith is noted for having recruited Robert Stanfield to help rebuild the Progressive Conservatives in Nova Scotia.

Biography

Born in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia on April 6, 1909, Smith practiced law in Truro. He served overseas during World War II and was mentioned in dispatches.

Smith was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1949 and served in Robert Stanfield's cabinet when the Tories formed government in 1956. When Stanfield moved to federal politics, Smith became Premier of Nova Scotia. Under his government the faltering Sydney Steel was nationalised. Smith argued in favour of regional equalization payments which transferred funds from rich provinces to poorer provinces like Nova Scotia.

Smith's government was defeated by the Liberals in 1970 and Smith resigned as party leader the next year. In 1975 he was summoned to the Senate of Canada and represented the senatorial division of Colchester, Nova Scotia.

Smith died in office in Truro, Nova Scotia on December 19, 1982.

References

George Isaac Smith Wikipedia