O-7170

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painting (portrait)

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The Honourable Gilbert Parent

Portrait of Speaker Gilbert Parent

Gilbert Parent, born in Mattawa, Ontario in 1935, had been a Liberal MP for 20 years when elected Speaker in 1994. He was presented with the unique challenge of presiding over a Commons with two new parties, including Reform, based almost entirely in western Canada, and the Bloc Québécois, a separatist party and the Official Opposition. When changes in seat numbers drew the two parties equal, Parent ruled that the Bloc would remain Official Opposition. His background as a school teacher perhaps helped rule the fractious chamber. His portrait was painted by David Goatley in 2001, and he died in 2009.

David Goatley

David Goatley has completed more than 400 portrait commissions around the world, travelling to his subjects from his studio in Canada’s Pacific Northwest.

Goatley was born in England in 1954, and studied art at Camberwell College of Arts in London. He began his career in advertising, and succeeded in that industry for 16 years before the need for a different, more demanding creative outlet led him to portraiture. He relocated to British Columbia in 1992. He also paints murals and paintings inspired by his world travels.