Barbara Jean McDougall (born November 12, 1937) is a former Canadian politician. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1993, and as Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1991 to 1993. She did not run again in the

1993 Canadian federal election The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's hist ...

which saw the incumbent Progressive Conservative government reduced to two seats in the House of Commons. In 2000 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Government and political experience

McDougall served as a member of parliament from St. Paul's (Toronto) for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1984 to 1993. At the Cabinet table she was a vocal proponent of free choice for women in the abortion debate. She based her opposition to

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

reform partly on the fact that this institution is responsible for the state of abortion law in Canada at present. She held the following government posts: McDougall has remained active in conservative political circles. She was a member of the Red Tory Council and supported auto-parts magnate Belinda Stronach's campaign to become leader of the new

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

in winter 2004. On December 18, 2006 it was announced that she would be appointed as a panelist on the Internal Trade Implementation Act for a period of five years.

Education

McDougall received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in political science and economics in 1963.

Other careers

McDougall has previously been an advisor for Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis LLP where she counsels clients on matters of international business development, corporate governance and government relations. She is the Chair o
Global Panel America
and a member of th
Global Panel Foundation
s worldwide Supervisory board based in Berlin, Prague and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. She has served as a Canadian representative to the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C. and The

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...

in Brussels, Belgium. A

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

director from 1999 to 2008, she sat on the Audit and Conduct Review Committee and the Human Resources Committee. She had previously served as Chair of the Conduct Review/Pension Committee. McDougall also was on the board of

Stelco Stelco Holdings Inc. (known as U.S. Steel Canada from 2007 to 2016) is a Canadian steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario. Stelco was founded in 1910 from the amalgamation of several smaller firms. It continued on for almost 100 years, until it ...

Inc. and the Independent Order of Foresters. She is currently a director of Unique Solutions Design Ltd. She has worked as a

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

for the Vancouver Sun, an analyst for Odlum Brown and at brokerage firm A.E. Ames, where she became the company's first female vice president. From October 2004 to March 2010 McDougall served on the Board of Directors of ''Imperial Tobacco Canada'', the Canadian subsidiary of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...

. In that capacity she chaired the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of Imperial Tobacco Canada.

Controversial position at IDRC

In December 2007 McDougall was appointed Chair of the board of Canada'
International Development Research Centre
(IDRC). Liberal MP

Carolyn Bennett Carolyn Ann Bennett (born December 20, 1950) is a Canadian physician and politician who has served as minister of mental health and addictions, and associate minister of health since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, she has repre ...

criticized her appointment as Chair of IDRC because of the conflict of interest it created between her role as director of a tobacco company and chair of an agency funding tobacco control efforts. The press release announcing her appointment did not mention her ongoing directorship of Imperial Tobacco. It is also omitted this from her bio on the IDRC website. As a result of this serious conflict of interest, a major tobacco control coordination meeting in Africa funded by IDRC was boycotted by its participants and the Gates Foundation pulled US$5 million of tobacco control funding from IDRC in April 2010.

References

External links