Alexander Grant MacKay (March 7, 1860 – April 25, 1920) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

teacher, lawyer and provincial level politician. He served prominent posts in two provincial legislatures as Leader of the Opposition in Ontario and as a Cabinet Minister in Alberta.

Early life

Alexander Grant MacKay was born in Sydenham, Ontario, in

Grey County Grey County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is in Owen Sound. It is located in the subregion of Southern Ontario named Southwestern Ontario. Grey County is also a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the ...

on March 7, 1860, to parents Hugh MacKay and Katherine McInnis. He attended post secondary studies at the Owen Sound College and 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 ...

obtaining a Master of Business degree. After university he became the principal of Port Rowan High School. In 1891 he joined the Ontario bar and served as a criminal lawyer until 1894, when he became Crown Attorney for Grey County. He served that role until 1912. MacKay began his political career on the municipal level with his election to the

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attract ...

Board of Education in 1894. He served in that role until he entered Ontario provincial politics in 1902.

Ontario politics

MacKay ran and was elected to the Ontario

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

in 1902 in the riding of

Grey North Grey North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867, which divided the County of Grey in ...

. He was re-elected in 1905, 1908 and 1911. He served in the government of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Ross as Commissioner of Crown Lands until the government's defeat in 1905. On September 7, 1907 MacKay was elected leader of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and held that position until he resigned in September 1911. MacKay moved to Alberta in the spring of 1912, he was accused by the Toronto press of leaving Ontario because he was unable to get along with new Liberal opposition leader

Newton Rowell Newton Wesley Rowell, (November 1, 1867 – November 22, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer, politician and judge, as well as a lay leader in the Methodist Church. Rowell led the Ontario Liberal Party from 1911 to 1917 and put forward a platform ...

. MacKay officially resigned his seat in the Ontario Legislature when he ran in the 1913 Alberta general election on April 12, 1913.

Alberta politics

MacKay ran for the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

for the first time in the 1913 Alberta general election resigning his Ontario Legislature seat as soon as the writ was dropped. MacKay ran in the

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

electoral district and was defeated finishing a very close 3rd place in the block vote. After his defeat he then ran as the candidate in the deferred

Athabasca Athabasca (also Athabaska) is an anglicized version of the Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada, āthap-āsk-ā-w (pronounced ), meaning "grass or reeds here and there". Most places named Athabasca are found in Alberta, Canada. Athabasca may a ...

election on July 30, 1913. In his second attempt at office he defeated Conservative candidate Mayor of Athabasca James Wood by a comfortable margin to win his first term in office. MacKay spent his first term in the Legislature as a back bencher for the government. MacKay stood for re-election in the

1917 Alberta general election The 1917 Alberta general election was held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener. Because of World War I, eleven Mem ...

. This time he was returned to his second term in a landslide victory over Conservative candidate A.F. Fugl. MacKay was appointed to the provincial cabinet on August 26, 1918. He assumed the portfolio of Minister of Municipal Affairs from

Wilfrid Gariépy Wilfrid Gariepy (March 14, 1877 – January 13, 1960) was a Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and provincial cabinet minister, member of the House of Commons of Canada, and municipal councillor in Edmonton. Early ...

. He was confirmed to his portfolio in a ministerial by-election on September 27, 1918, which he won by acclamation. MacKay was given a second portfolio on June 19, 1919, when he was appointed as Alberta's first Minister of Health. He served both portfolios until he died of pneumonia (arising from the Spanish flu) in the Edmonton General Hospital April 25, 1920.

References

External links

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Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Alexander Grant 1860 births 1920 deaths Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party University of Toronto alumni Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Deaths from pneumonia in Alberta Members of the Executive Council of Alberta