The Hon. John William Bosley was born on May 4, 1947 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is best known for having been Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from November 5, 1984 to September 29, 1986. Prior to his election to Parliament he was a businessman. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, he was first elected in the 1979 election in the riding of Don Valley West in Toronto and served as Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Joe Clark. He was subsequently defeated in the 1980 Canadian election. He returned to the Canadian House of Commons as a result of the 1984 Canadian election after which he became Speaker. On June 27, 1985, the House adopted changes to the Standing Orders, providing for the election of the Speaker by secret ballot. The first such election took place on September 30, 1986, when Speaker Bosley tendered his resignation and presided over the election of the Honourable John Fraser as the thirty-second Speaker of the House of Commons. Bosley was re-elected as an MP in 1988 before being defeated in the disastrous 1993 Canadian election in which the Progressive Conservatives were reduced from 157 MPs to 2.