Gunnar Thorvaldson

Gunnar Solmunder (Solly) Thorvaldson, (March 18, 1901 – August 2, 1969) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1941 to 1949, and in the Senate of Canada from 1958 until his death. Originally elected as a Conservative, he sat as a Progressive Conservative after the party changed its name in 1943.

Thorvaldson was born in Riverton, Manitoba to a notable Icelandic-Canadian family. His father, Sveinn Thorvaldson, was also a Conservative member of the Assembly from 1914 to 1915.

His nephew Scott Thorkelson served in the Canadian House of Commons. and this time finishing seventh on the first count. Subsequent counts confirmed his position, and he was finally declared elected on the nineteenth ballot. The Liberal-Progressives and Conservatives were partners in a coalition government during this period, and Thorvaldson served as a backbench supporter of the ministries of John Bracken and Stuart Garson.

He was re-elected in the 1945 election,