William Grenville Davis, PC, CC, OOnt, QC (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985.

He frequently campaigned for local Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Thomas Laird Kennedy, who briefly served as Premier of Ontario in 1949.

[9] He was a football player during his university years, and his teammates included Roy McMurtry and Thomas Leonard Wells, both of whom would later serve in his cabinet.

The election took place soon after the federal Progressive Conservative government of John Diefenbaker had cancelled the Avro Arrow program.

When Frost announced his retirement in 1961, Davis became the chief organizer of Robert Macaulay's campaign to succeed him as premier and party leader.

Macaulay was eliminated on the next-to-last ballot, and, with Davis, delivered crucial support for John Robarts to defeat Kelso Roberts on the final vote.

[14] Davis was appointed to Robarts' cabinet as Minister of Education on October 25, 1962, and was re-elected by a greatly increased margin in the 1963 provincial election.

[22] Three months after taking office as premier, Davis announced that his government would not continue to fund construction of the Spadina Expressway into downtown Toronto—an initiative that had been unpopular with many of the area's residents.

[29] Davis's first full term as premier was by most accounts his least successful, with public confidence in his government weakened by a series of scandals.

[30] There were allegations that the Fidinam company had received special consideration for a Toronto development program in return for donations to the Progressive Conservative Party.

[32] On the policy front, the Davis administration introduced regional governments for Durham, Hamilton-Wentworth, Haldimand-Norfolk, and Waterloo but shelved further plans in response to popular protests.

[36] On January 1, 1976, Davis enacted Canada's first mandatory seat belt law, following the death of the daughter of his close friend and advisor, Eddie Goodman.

As there was no serious consideration of a Liberal-NDP alliance after both campaigns, Davis was able to avoid defeat in the legislature by appealing to other parties for support on particular initiatives.

[39] The opposition parties had also undergone leadership changes; Nixon and Lewis, who had posed a strong challenge to Davis, resigned after the 1975 and 1977 elections, respectively.

[43] Although he actively supported and campaigned for him in 1976, Davis had an awkward relationship with federal Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark.

[44] The Progressive Conservatives were returned with a majority government in the 1981 provincial election, with 8 of their 12 gained seats coming at the expense of the NDP.

[45] Soon after the election, Davis announced that John Tory (who became leader of the PCs 23 years later) had been hired to succeed Hugh Segal as his principal secretary.

[50][51] Davis publicly announced his retirement on October 8, 1984, a few months before the 1985 election, with he and his government still well ahead in polls against David Peterson's Liberals and Bob Rae's NDP.

Although the policy was supported by all parties in the legislature, it was unpopular with some in the Conservatives' traditional rural Protestant base, and many would stay home in the upcoming election because of this issue.

[58] In 1985 and 1986, Davis was the Canadian half of a joint task force with the United States (with Drew Lewis as his American counterpart) appointed by Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan to solve the ongoing acid rain issues affecting the Great Lakes.

Their report was popularly referred to as the Acid Rain Treaty; Davis was paid $1 for his work, proudly framing the bill at his cottage.