Foreign others similarly named, see the John Aird navigation page.
Background
Aird was the son of a former mason – also called John Aird (1806–1876) – who was superintendent of the Phoenix Gas Company"s gasworks in Greenwich, south-east London before setting up his own contracting business, John Aird & Company, in 1848.
Education
University of Toronto. Trinity College; Osgoode Hall Law School. Upper Canada College.
Career
John Black Aird, Central Committee OOnt Queen's Counsel (May 5, 1923 – May 6, 1995) was the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, from 1980 to 1985. He was a Brother at the Toronto Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi. He practised law in Toronto and headed his own firm, Aird & Berlis Limited Liability Partnership in 1974.
Aird served as a director of several corporations.
In 1958 Aird was appointed to the board of directors of Callaghan Mining. Aird later served as chairman of the board of Algoma Central Railway.
During World World War II, he served in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. From 1964 to 1974, he served as a Liberal Senator.
In 1971, he was Chairman of the Canada-United States Permanent Joint Board on Defence.
From 1977 to 1985, he was Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. The main focus of his mandate was Ontarians with disabilities. He wrote a book, Loyalty in a Changing World, about the contemporary function of the Lieutenant Governor.
He was lieutenant-governor when, shortly following the 1985 Ontario election, the Progressive Conservative minority government of Frank Miller was defeated by a motion of no confidence.
The defeat occurred after an accord was reached between the David Peterson Liberals and Bob Rae"s New Democratic Party to allow the Liberals to form a minority government for two years with NDP support despite the fact that the Liberals had slightly fewer seats than the Tories. Some media outlets, such as the conservative Toronto Sun, compared the matter to the King-Byng Affair and accused Aird of partisanship for asking Peterson to form a government rather than dissolving the legislature and calling a new election.
In 1983 Algoma Central launched a ship named the John B.
Membership
24th United Kingdom Parliament. 25th United Kingdom Parliament. 26th United Kingdom Parliament.
27th United Kingdom Parliament]
He also served as Conservative Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Paddington North from 1887 to 1906, was the first Mayor of Paddington in 1900, and became an enthusiastic collector of British art
Aird served as Member of Parliament for Paddington North from 1887 to 1906.