Born in
Kenora, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from the
University of Saskatchewan. During
World War II, he served with the
Royal Canadian Air Force as a navigator and flight lieutenant. He was awarded the
Burma Star Decoration. After the war, he ran three times unsuccessfully as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in the
1945,
1949, and
1953 elections. He was elected in
1957 in the riding of
Qu'Appelle and re-elected 4 more times in
1958,
1962,
1963, and
1965. He ran in the riding of
Regina East in the
1968 federal election, and lost by 192 votes to the New Democrat candidate. He was elected again in the
1972 federal election in the riding of
Qu'Appelle—Moose Mountain and was re-elected 4 more times in
1974,
1979,
1980, and
1984. He retired in 1988. Hamilton served as Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources in the Diefenbaker
cabinet from 1957 to 1960, supporting a new vision of northern development. From 1960 to the
1963 election, when the Diefenbaker government was defeated, Hamilton served as
Minister of Agriculture, pioneering wheat sales to the
People's Republic of China. He was a candidate at the
1967 PC leadership convention, making it to the fourth ballot before dropping out. In 1992, Hamilton was granted the honorific style of "
The Right Honourable" by
Elizabeth II in honour of his service to Canada. This is a rare honour for someone who did not serve as
Prime Minister of Canada,
Chief Justice of Canada or
Governor General of Canada. After Hamilton retired from politics in 1988, he lived a relatively secluded life in the
Ottawa-area town of
Manotick, where he lived until his death in 2004. On June 28, 2007, the newly refurbished Government of Canada Building in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, was officially named the Francis Alvin George Hamilton Building. Also, one of the reception rooms at the Embassy of Canada to China in
Beijing is called the Alvin Hamilton Room. ==Further reading==