Frederick Goldwin Gardiner, (January 21, 1895 – August 21, 1983) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and businessman. He was the first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto council, the governing body for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, from 1953 to 1961. As Metro Chairman, Gardiner, nicknamed "Big Daddy," was a staunch advocate of growth and expansion and was responsible for many capital works projects, including the Gardiner Expressway (named for him) and the Don Valley Parkway.
Gardiner, after graduating first in his law class, became a well-known criminal lawyer. He invested in various businesses, including consumer credit, sawmills, manufacturing and mining. At one time, he was the largest shareholder in the Toronto-Dominion Bank.
Gardiner was a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in both federal and provincial politics, organized conventions and developed policy in the 1930s and 1940s. He was instrumental in the updating of the Conservative Party, as it was then known, to the Progressive Conservative Party to acknowledge its change in policy to incorporate progressive values. He was a close adviser to Ontario PC Premiers George Drew and Leslie Frost.
Early life
Fred Gardiner was born on January 21, 1895, in Toronto, one of three children born to David and Victoria Gardiner, the others being Myrtle and Samuel. David Gardiner was born in October 1854 in county Monaghan, Ireland, one of ten children. David emigrated to Toronto in 1874 and worked as a labourer, then as a carpenter, and eventually as an attendant at the Toronto Asylum for the Insane and a longer-term position as a guard at the Central Prison on Strachan Avenue. While working at the Asylum, he met Victoria Robertson from Port Hope, Ontario. The two married in April 1888. Son Samuel was born in 1892, Fred in 1895 and Myrtle in 1898. The family lived on Arthur Street (now Dundas Street West), near Euclid Street, in the west-end of Toronto before it settled at 199½ Euclid in 1911.
As a child, Fred, known as Ted, assisted his father, who was a landlord for several properties in the Arthur-Euclid area. Fred also delivered telegrams by bicycle on holidays and weekends. Fred attended Grace Street School, (where he had to repeat fourth grade) until 1909 when he started to attend Parkdale Collegiate Institute on Jameson Avenue. It was in the third year at Parkdale that Gardiner started to develop his competitiveness, a trait he would use for material gain and political ends later in life.
In 1911, Gardiner first became involved in politics. His father, a member of the Loyal Orange Lodge, was also a member of the Conservative Party. Fred first helped out on a campaign for the board of education. In December 1911, he worked on the campaign for E. W. J. Owens in the provincial election.
In 1913, Gardiner entered the University of Toronto, in general arts, transferring in the second year to honours political science. Gardiner paid for his tuition out of his own savings. Gardiner joined the varsity rugby team in 1914, a year that the team won the national championship. Gardiner had to drop out of the varsity team when he did not have enough money for the fees, and his father refused to pay. Gardiner worked hard at his studies and won the political economy department's Alexander Mackenzie Medal in 1916.
After his third year, Gardiner enlisted in the militia in the spring of 1916. He signed on with the Depot Regiment of the Canadian Mounted Rifles. The regiment was disbanded in 1917, but Gardiner was transferred to an infantry battalion in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He took an officer's course at Reading University and was assigned as an officer with the Royal Flying Corps, serving as a flight instructor. Gardiner saw action only after September 1918, when he piloted a Handley-Page night bomber on several missions.
While serving in the army, Gardiner developed a lifelong interest in gambling and became proficient at cards and dice. He played poker on the return voyage after the war and doubled his $1,500 stake. He also developed a taste for Scotch whisky.
Because of his service in the war, Gardiner was given an honours degree by the University, and he did not have to finish his fourth year of studies. Gardiner enrolled at Osgoode Hall in law, where returning soldiers could skip the first year, and take the second year in one summer semester. Gardiner was not impeded by the accelerated schedule, and he placed first in the class of 1920. He received the Chancellor Van Koughnet scholarship, a $400 cash prize and the Law Society's gold medal. Gardiner treasured the gold medal, and kept it on his desk for the length of his career.