Background
Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, the grandson of the Premier of Quebec Edmund James Flynn, he graduated in law from Université Laval in and was called to the Quebec Bar both in 1939.
lawyer politician university professor
Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, the grandson of the Premier of Quebec Edmund James Flynn, he graduated in law from Université Laval in and was called to the Quebec Bar both in 1939.
Laval University.
A Progressive Conservative, Flynn ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1957 election. Flynn became Deputy Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons in 1960. In December 1961, Prime Minister Diefenbaker brought Flynn into the Canadian Cabinet as Minister of Mines and Technical Surveys, a position he held until losing his seat in the 1962 election that reduced the Conservatives to a minority government.
Later that year, he was appointed to the Senate.
Flynn served as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1967 until the 1979 election that brought the Tories back to power. Prime Minister Joe Clark brought Flynn into Cabinet as Minister of Justice.
With the defeat of the Clark government in the 1980 election, Flynn returned to the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. He continued in that role until 1984.
He remained in the Upper House until his retirement in 1990.