Born in
Macoun, Saskatchewan, Gustafson was a
farmer, contractor and businessman, before he was elected to the
House of Commons of Canada in the
1979 general election as the
Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for
Assiniboia,
Saskatchewan. He did not serve in the short-lived government led by
Prime Minister Joe Clark. He was re-elected in
1980,
1984, and
1988. Gustafson served as
parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney from 1984 until shortly before Mulroney left office. In May 1993, shortly before his retirement, Mulroney appointed Gustafson to the
Senate of Canada, where he sat as a Progressive Conservative and, since February 2004, as a
Conservative. He retired from the Senate upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 on November 10, 2008. On January 8, 2009, it was announced that Gustafson was appointed to the
Privy Council on the advice of Prime Minister
Stephen Harper. Gustafson died on March 18, 2022, in
Midale, Saskatchewan. == Electoral record ==