Donald Stovel Macdonald

The Honourable
Donald Macdonald
PC CC
The Honourable Donald Macdonald PC CC
	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	University of Toronto; Harvard University; University of Cambridge;
Profession	Lawyer

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.

Early life and education

Macdonald 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

He 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

In 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

In 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

Macdonald 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 Lang, 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

v t e 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.

References

^ "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.

External links

Cabinet posts (5)
20th Ministry – First cabinet of Pierre Trudeau
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Charles Drury (acting)	Minister of Finance 1975–1977	Jean Chrétien
Joe Greene	Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources 1972–1975	Alastair Gillespie
Charles Drury (acting)	Minister of National Defence 1970–1972	Edgar Benson
Allan MacEachen (acting)	President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada July 6, 1968 – September 23, 1970	Allan MacEachen
	Minister Without Portfolio April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Allan MacEachen	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons September 12, 1968 – September 23, 1970	Allan MacEachen
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Roy McMurtry	Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom 1988–1991	Succeeded by Fredrik Stefan Eaton