O-4555.1

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painting (portrait)

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The Honourable John Allen Fraser

Portrait of Speaker John Fraser

John Fraser was the only Speaker born in Japan, where his Canadian parents were working. They returned to British Columbia, where Fraser became a lawyer and was elected to Parliament as a Progressive Conservative in 1972. As fisheries minister he was forced to resign over the “tainted tuna” scandal. He was the first Speaker elected by a secret ballot of MPs. He expanded transparency and accessibility at Parliament, with the creation of the Commons Public Information Office and a task force on opportunities for disabled people on the Hill. He retired from Parliament in 1993, and worked primarily on environmental policies. His portrait was painted by Gregory Furmanczyk in 1994.

Gregory Furmanczyk

Gregory Furmanczyk was born in Papineau County, Quebec in 1950, and studied at the Ottawa School of Art and Ontario College of Art and Design. He has painted many portraits that hang in legislatures, court chambers, ecclesiastical residences, corporate boardrooms and cultural centres. He is influenced by the old masters, fuelled by his research in Florence and Rome. He later added sculpture to his oeuvre, including a sculpture of Christ’s crucifixion for Newman Theological College in Edmonton in 2012. His teaching work has included portraiture at the Ottawa School of Art.