Donald Stovel Macdonald PC CC (1 March 1932 – 14 October 2018) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and diplomat. Macdonald was a long-time Liberal party Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister. In the early 1980s, he headed a royal commission (the Macdonald Commission) which recommended that Canada enter a free trade agreement with the United States.
Donald Macdonald | |
|---|---|
 Macdonald with President Gerald Ford in 1975. | |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 26 September 1975 – 16 September 1977 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Charles Drury (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Jean Chrétien |
| Ministers of Energy, Mines, and Resources | |
| In office 28 January 1972 – 25 September 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Joe Greene |
| Succeeded by | Alastair Gillespie |
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 24 September 1970 – 27 January 1972 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Léo Cadieux |
| Succeeded by | Charles Drury (acting) |
| President of the Privy Council | |
| In office 6 July 1968 – 23 September 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Allan MacEachen |
| Succeeded by | Allan MacEachen |
| Member of Parliament for Rosedale | |
| In office 18 June 1962 – 28 February 1978 | |
| Preceded by | David James Walker |
| Succeeded by | David Crombie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Donald Stovel Macdonald 1 March 1932 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | 14 October 2018 (aged 86) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) |
Ruth Hutchison
(m. 1961; died 1987)Adrian Merchant Lang
(m. 1988) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Early life and education
editMacdonald was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto in 1952. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School (LLM), as well as the University of Cambridge in England (Diploma in International Law).
Political career
editHe was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1962 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Rosedale riding in Toronto. In 1967, he was the parliamentary secretary of Paul Martin, Secretary of State for External Affairs. He joined the Cabinet of Pierre Trudeau in 1968 and served successively as President of the Privy Council, Minister of National Defence, Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and Minister of Finance. As Finance Minister, Macdonald introduced tougher Employment insurance rules in his 1976 budget,[1] and wage and price controls in an attempt to control inflation in his 1977 budget.[2]
Macdonald resigned from Cabinet in 1977 to return to his law practice. When Pierre Trudeau announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada following his defeat in the 1979 election, Macdonald would have declared his candidacy for the position. However, with the unexpected defeat of Joe Clark's Progressive Conservative government on a motion of no confidence, the Liberals asked Trudeau to lead them into the 1980 election and cancelled the leadership campaign. Macdonald was not a candidate for the party leadership when Trudeau resigned again in 1984.
Subsequent career
editIn 1982, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Macdonald as chairman of a Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (the Macdonald Commission). The report was released in September 1985 and recommended, among other things, that Canada enter into a free trade agreement with the United States. Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister by this time. He accepted the recommendation and pursued what became the Canada–US Free Trade Agreement.
Macdonald was appointed High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom in 1988. He held that position until 1991, when he returned to his law practice in Toronto. He is also a past member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group.[3]
Honours and awards
editIn 1994, Macdonald was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.[4] He received honorary degrees from the Colorado School of Mines, the University of New Brunswick, Carleton University, and the University of Toronto (Doctor of Sacred Letters, Trinity College, University of Toronto).
Personal life
editMacdonald married Ruth Hutchison (dec.) in 1961, and their four daughters are Leigh, Nikki, Althea, and Sonja. Nikki Macdonald served as a senior advisor to Jean Chrétien during his time as Prime Minister.
In 1988, he married Adrian Merchant Lang, the daughter of Sally Merchant. From her prior marriage to Otto Lang, she had seven children: Maria (d. 1991), Timothy, Gregory, Andrew, Elisabeth, Adrian, and Amanda Lang. They have fifteen grandchildren.
Macdonald died at his home in Toronto on October 14, 2018.[5]
Electoral record
edit| 1972 Canadian federal election: Rosedale | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Donald S. Macdonald | 16,073 | 44.02 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Warren Beamish | 14,856 | 40.69 | |||||
| New Democratic | Ron Sabourin | 4,598 | 12.59 | |||||
| Independent | Aline Gregory | 892 | 2.44 | |||||
| Marxist–Leninist | David Starbuck | 95 | 0.26 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 36,514 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 612 | |||||||
| Turnout | 37,126 | 74.00 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 50,169 | |||||||
| Source: Official Voting Results, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Canada), 1972. | ||||||||
Archives
editThere is a Donald Stovel MacDonald fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[6]
References
edit- ^ "The Leader-Post". news.google.com. 26 May 1976. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ "The Leader-Post". news.google.com. 1 April 1977. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ "Former Steering Committee Members". bilderbergmeetings.org. Bilderberg Group. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
- ^ Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Former Liberal cabinet minister Donald Macdonald dead at 86, family says | Globalnews.ca".
- ^ "Finding aid to Donald Stovel MacDonald fonds, Library and Archives Canada" (PDF). Retrieved 17 August 2020.
Further reading
edit- Macdonald, Donald S. (2014). Thumper : the memoirs of the Honourable Donald S. Macdonald. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-8180-7.