“Old Man Ontario,”Leslie Frost one of Ontario’s most popular and influential Premiers

On my late winter visit to Riverside Cemetery in Lindsay, Ontario, with snow and frost slowly melting, I visited the grave of Ontario’s 16th premier — a man known in his day as “Old Man Ontario” and “the Silver Fox,” Leslie Frost.

Leslie was born in Orillia, Ontario, and later attended the University of Toronto. It was there that he volunteered to serve in the First World War in December 1915. The courageous volunteer, who rose to lieutenant, fought at the Battle of Passchendaele and was shot through the waist near Arras. He convalesced in England and Canada and was discharged with the rank of Captain in 1918–1919.

After the war, Frost studied law at Osgoode Hall alongside his younger brother, Cecil Gray Frost, and together they opened a law practice in Lindsay, Ontario. Cecil would go on to become mayor of Lindsay, while his older brother set his sights on provincial politics, winning a seat in 1937 and never losing an election for the remainder of his career.

Twelve years after his first election, Leslie Frost became the 16the Premiere of Ontario serving in that role for an impressive 12 years winning three consecutive terms.

Some of his key Accomplishments: