Hugh John Flemming

Hugh John Flemming, born January 5, 1899, in Peel, New Brunswick, Canada – died October 16, 1982, in Fredericton, New Brunswick. was a politician and Premier of the Province of New Brunswick.

Flemming was first elected to the province's Legislative Assembly in 1944 after more than twenty years as a municipal councillor. In 1951 he became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leading the party to victory in 1952. As Premier, Flemming modernized the province's hydro system and presented a balanced budget every year in office. In 1960 his government was defeated over the issue of hospital taxes.

Follow the defeat of his provincial government, he was named minister of forestry in the cabinet of Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker and later became became Minister of National Revenue in 1962. He sought a seat in a by-election in southern New Brunswick in 1960 and was re-elected to his home district four times before he retired from the Canadian House of Commons in 1972.

Throughout his years as a public servant, Hugh John Flemming distinguished himself as a man of honesty and integrity. His family-run lumber mill in the village of Juniper, New Brunswick ran into financial difficulties in the late 1970s, but his impeccable reputation was such that his friend, but staunch Liberal Party supporter, Harrison McCain, organized an investment campaign that raised sufficient capital from businessmen to allow the mill to make a financial recovery. The company today is now owned by Nexfor Inc. of Toronto, Ontario.