MacDonald, David, 1936- : Cabinet Minister
David S.H. MacDonald was born at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1936. Active as a youth in various church organizations and in regional broadcasting, he was educated at Prince of Wales College, Dalhousie University, and Pine Hill Divinity Hall.
Ordained as a United Church minister on 11 June 1961, he was a pastor in Alberton and Tignish from 1962 to 1965, during which time he participated in various regional and national church groups, as well as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, and many other local, provincial, regional, and national organizations.
First elected as a Progressive Conservative (PC) Party Member of Parliament (MP), for the constituency of Prince, in the general election of 1965, he was re-elected, for the constituency of Egmont, in 1968, 1972, 1974 and 1979. In addition to serving on many House of Commons committees, MacDonald was at various times his party's main spokesperson for a number of issues, including regional development, Canada-United States relations, and youth policy. He also eventually served as the PC coordinator for cultural policy and the status of women, and was active in the World Federalists and several inter-parliamentary organizations.
As an MP, MacDonald quickly emerged as a leading "Red Tory," first coming to national prominence as an advocate for human rights, Third World aid, and civil liberties. Following an investigation of the Nigerian civil war, he co-authored, with Andrew Brewin, the book Canada and the Biafran Tragedy (1969). In 1970, he edited Strong and Free, a critical response to the imposition of the War Measures Act. He later co-authored, with Brewin and Louis Duclos, an important report on human rights in Latin America, One Gigantic Prison (1976).
On 4 June 1979, MacDonald was appointed to Cabinet as Secretary of State of Canada, Minister of Communications, and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.
Following the defeat of the Clark government in the general election of 2 March 1980, MacDonald became a Fellow-in-Residence at the Institute for Public Policy research in Ottawa, where he remained from 1980 to 1982. He subsequently served as director of the Futures Secretariat, 1981-1982; program director and special advisor in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, 1982-1983; and director of logistics for Canada's first Papal Visit, 1983-1984.
Later in 1984, the focus of MacDonald's career shifted to activities relating to African aid and development. From 1984 to 1985, he served as the Canadian Emergency Coordinator, African Famine. On 12 September 1986, he was appointed as Canada's Ambassador to Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti, a position that he held until 1988.
Following his diplomatic career, MacDonald was elected for the Ontario riding of Rosedale in the 1988 federal election. During his second tenure as an MP, he served as the chairman of both the Standing Committee on the Environment and the Ad Hoc Committee on AIDS, and as the vice-chairman of the Special Committee on the Meech Lake Accord. He was defeated in the general election of 1993. In 1997, he ran, unsuccessfully, as the New Democratic Party candidate in Rosedale.
For much of the past decade, MacDonald has served as a Special Advisor to the General Council of the United Church's Steering Group on Residential Schools. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Concordia University and has remained active as a social activist, policy specialist, and advocate for human rights and Third World aid.