Paul Hellyer

Life & Legacy

Paul Theodore Hellyer (August 6, 1923 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian engineer, politician, writer, and commentator. A prominent Liberal figure in the 1960s, he served as a Member of Parliament for over twenty years and a minister in the government of three Liberal Prime Ministers. In 1968 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau designated Hellyer as Senior Minister, the first instance for a Prime Minister of Canada to confer a formal title to a cabinet member to signal precedent ahead of all cabinet colleagues. He was the longest serving member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada at the time of his death. He contested the national leadership of both major parties in parliament, and found another political party but was unable to turn it into political force of significance.