Sinclair McKnight Stevens PC (February 11, 1927 – November 30, 2016) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman and cabinet minister.

[1] He was born in Esquesing Township (today part of Halton Hills, Ontario), the third child of Northern Irish immigrants Robert Murray Stevens and Anna Bailey McKnight.

He entered Osgoode Hall Law School, where he met his fellow student and future wife Noreen Mary Terese Charlebois.

Unusually for the time, his branches were located in working-class areas and Loblaws stores, featuring extended service hours.

Westerners saw it as yet another eastern-controlled firm, Conservatives were put off by the association with Coyne, and the feathers of the establishment banks were ruffled.

He finished seventh (of eleven candidates) on the first ballot and withdrew in favour of the eventual winner Joe Clark.

That was seen as a surprising move, since Stevens was considered right-wing, and Clark was a moderate on the party's left wing.

"[9] Stevens had been the top official campaign spender (at $294,107), but Mulroney, who did not provide figures, is widely thought to have exceeded that amount.

In December 1987, a special commission of inquiry, headed by Justice William Dickens Parker, ruled Stevens had violated conflict-of-interest allegations on fourteen counts.

[16] Despite the controversy, Stevens was allowed to remain in the Progressive Conservative caucus as a backbencher for the remainder of his term, after which his riding was abolished and the constituency of York—Simcoe re-established.

[18] In December 2004, Federal Court Judge John O'Keefe declared null and void the findings of the Parker Inquiry.