[2] Born in Copper Cliff, Ontario, Gauthier owned a lumber company in the Sudbury area,[1] and was one of the founding shareholders in Sudbury Broadcasting, F. Baxter Ricard's radio company which established CHNO and CFBR.
[2] He was active in politics as an organizer, and as campaign manager for provincial MPP James Cooper.
[2] In 1947, he was one of several MPs from Northern Ontario who lobbied the government to provide tax relief to the region's gold mines.
[4] The following year, he was one of six MPs who demanded that the government of Mackenzie King reinstitute food subsidies and remove the sales tax from food, to counter the rising cost of living and the emerging power of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.
In the 1953 election, he became the first MP for Nickel Belt,[6] During his time as an MP, he played a role in securing government funding for the construction of the Sudbury Airport,[7] although he raised a public objection when he did not receive a formal invitation to the airport's official opening in 1954.