MacDonald, Donald, 1909-1986 : Donald MacDonald was born in Halifax, N.S., moved to Cape Breton, and was educated there and at St. Francis Xavier University. By the time he was twenty one, MacDonald was President of Local 4560, District 26, United Mine Workers of America and remained active in that union until he was blacklisted in 1940. He was also active in the co-operative movement. In 1941 MacDonald was elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member for Cape Breton South. He was the leader of the C.C.F. Party in the Nova Scotia Assembly until 1945 and served on the Provincial Council, 1940-1951. He was also a member of the C.C.F. National Council 1941-1945.
In 1942, MacDonald joined the Canadian Congress of Labour (C.C.L.) as an organizer and was Director of Organization for the Maritimes, 1945-1951. From 1951 until the C.C.L. merged with the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada to form the Canadian Labour Congress (C.L.C.) in 1956, MacDonald held the office of secretary-treasurer and chief executive officer of the C.C.L. He then served as secretary-treasurer of the C.L.C., 1956-1967. MacDonald then served as president, 1968-1974.
MacDonald was also involved with international trade unionism as a member of the Executive Board of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (I.C.F.T.U.) for twenty-three years and in 1969 he was elected Vice-President. In 1972, MacDonald was elected President of the I.C.F.T.U., and retired in 1974. MacDonald was also associated with numerous national and international organizations and committees involved in the fields of labour and education, and received numerous awards for his community service.
Dodge, William, 1911-1986 : William Dodge (1911-1986) was born and raised in Verdun, Quebec. In 1927, he became an employee of Canadian National Railways, and in 1930 joined the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees (CBRE). After serving with the Royal Canadian Artillery in the Second World War, he studied economics at Sir George Williams University (B.A., 1949). He worked for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's (CCF) Quebec Labour Committee in 1948 and became a full-time representative for the CBRE in 1949.
Dodge served several terms as vice-president of the Montreal Labour Council and also sat on the executive council of the Quebec Federation of Labour (1957-1958). An active CCFer, he contested ridings for the party and served on its national executive. In 1958, he was elected executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC); he continued in that post until he was elected secretary-treasurer in 1968.
As a senior officer of the CLC, Dodge was involved in several national labour issues, including the Norris Inquiry (Industrial Inquiry Commission on Shipping on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River System) and the trusteeship over maritime transportation unions. He established the CLC's White Collar Organizing Committee and supervised its activities for about five years. He sought the CLC presidency in 1974, but did not stand for office at the 1974 convention after the CLC executive council narrowly endorsed Joe Morris for president.
After his retirement from the CLC executive, Dodge served as the CLC Ombudsman (1975-1983) and also as a union appointee on arbitration boards. He was active in various consultative and policy research organizations, notably the C.D. Howe Research Institute and the Conference Board of Canada, and he continued to work with these organizations after leaving the CLC executive.
Dodge was a member of the Ontario Government's Committee on University Affairs (1967-1974), and in retirement served on the boards of directors of Ontario Hydro (1974-1981) and of the Bank of Canada (1975-1981). He also served on the Board of Trustees of National Museums Canada (NMC) and on the executive of Canada World Youth (CWY). He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1974. He died in Ottawa In 1986.
