Albert Wesley "Al" Johnson (October 18, 1923 – November 9, 2010) was a Canadian civil servant, former president of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, professor in the department of political science at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, and author. Born in Insinger,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, he received a Master's in public administration (MPA) from the

and an MPA and a PhD from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He was deputy treasurer of

from 1952 until 1964. Johnson was one of the key figures in the development of universal medicare, first in Saskatchewan in the governments of Premier

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

and Premier

Woodrow Lloyd Woodrow Stanley Lloyd (July 16, 1913 – April 7, 1972) was a Canadian politician and educator. Born in Saskatchewan in 1913, he became a teacher in the early 1930s. He worked as a teacher and school principal until 1944 and was involved with ...

and subsequently at the national level. In 1964 he became assistant deputy minister of finance for the federal government. From 1975 until 1982 he was president of the CBC. He subsequently taught at Queen's University and the University of Toronto.

In 1980 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1996 in recognition of his "outstanding career as a public servant, university professor and consultant on post-secondary education, social policy and public management both nationally and internationally". Johnson wrote the 2004 book ''Dream No Little Dreams, A Biography of the Douglas Government of Saskatchewan, 1944–1961'' () for which he was awarded the Canadian Political Science Association's Donald Smiley Prize in 2005. After leaving the federal civil service he embarked on an international career: * Special Advisor on National Provincial Fiscal Arrangements for the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

1988 * Head of Mission on Administrative Modernization for the

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...

1991 * Senior advisor to South Africa/Canada Program on Governance 1992 * Commissioner of South Africa's Presidential Review Commission on the Public Service 1996 Returning to Canada in 1999, Johnson became special chair in public policy to the Government of Saskatchewan. Johnson died in Ottawa at age 87. He was survived by his wife, Ruth (née Hardy), whom he married in 1946, four children and one granddaughter.

CBC years

During Johnson's years as President of the CBC, his chief goal was the Canadianization of the airwaves, by increasing the quality and quantity of Canadian radio and television programming.

Awards and honours

* Vanier Medal 1976 *

Companion of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

1997
Canadian Political Science Association, Donald Smiley Prize
2005 *

Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs The Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, colloquially known as Arthur Kroeger College or AKC, is a specialized institute within the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. The College offers undergraduate and grad ...

, Award for Ethics in Public Affairs 2010 * The

Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy Established in 2007, the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) is a centre for advanced education, research and training in policy and administration. It has locations at the University of Regina and the University of Saskatch ...

, established jointly between the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchew ...

and the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 2007, was named in honour of Johnson and

Thomas Shoyama Thomas Kunito Shoyama (September 24, 1916 – December 22, 2006) was a prominent Canadian public servant who was instrumental in designing social services in Canada, especially Medicare. Early life Shoyama was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, ...

References

1923 births 2010 deaths Canadian political scientists 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian civil servants Harvard Kennedy School alumni Companions of the Order of Canada Writers from Saskatchewan University of Toronto alumni University of Toronto faculty Presidents of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation {{canada-gov-bio-stub