Sylvester Perry Ryan was a Canadian lawyer and politician.

Ryan's federal political career began in 1949 when he ran, twice, for the Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 seat of Greenwood

Greenwood (electoral district)

Greenwood was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1979. It was located in east end of the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario...

. Running as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 he was defeated by Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 John Ernest McMillin

John Ernest McMillin

John Ernest McMillin was a Toronto building contractor who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons.McMillin was a building contractor working in the east end of Toronto for 20 years prior to his death and was also a partner in the Main Realty Company of Toronto and president of the Ontario...

 in the 1949 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1949

The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...

 and then, in the by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 called following McMillin's death, was defeated by James MacKerras MacDonnell by less than 200 votes.

In 1962, Ryan made another attempt to gain a seat in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

, this time for the Toronto riding of Spadina

Spadina (electoral district)

Spadina was a Canadian electoral district that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1988. It covered a portion of the western-central Toronto. Its name comes from the Spadina Avenue, which runs through the heart of the riding....

 in which he succeeded in defeating prominent Tory publisher John Bassett

John Bassett

John White Hughes Bassett, was a Canadian publisher and media baron.Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he was the son of John Bassett , publisher of the Montreal Gazette, and Margaret Avery. Bassett attended Ashbury College and graduated from Bishop's University with a BA in 1936...

.

Ryan was re-elected as a Liberal under leader Lester B. Pearson

Lester B. Pearson

Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...

 in 1963 and 1965 and under Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

 in 1968. Uncomfortable with Trudeau's policies, Ryan left the Liberal Party and crossed the floor on December 3, 1969 to sit as an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 MP. In September 1970 he joined the Progressive Conservative caucus. Ryan cited three reasons for leaving the Liberals - the Trudeau government's downgrading of Canada's relationship with NATO, the government's decision to recognize the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 and what Ryan argued was the downgrading of the status and influence of backbench MPs and ordinary Members of Parliament under Trudeau.

Attempting to retain his seat in the 1972 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1972

The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...

 Ryan ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate but finished in third place behind Liberal Peter Stollery

Peter Stollery

Peter Alan Stollery is a former Canadian politician and businessman.-Background:An old Yorkville family, the Stollerys owned a famous furnishings store named Stollery’s, which opened in 1901 in downtown Toronto...

 and Bob Beardsley of the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

.