William Darcy McKeough, (born January 31, 1933) is a former politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1963 to 1978 who represented the ridings of

Kent West Kent West was a federal electoral district (or ''riding'') represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1903 when Kent riding was divided into two ridings, ...

and Chatham—Kent. He was a cabinet minister in the governments of

John Robarts John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Early life Roba ...

and

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

. Due to McKeough's senior position in cabinet as Treasurer, Minister of Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Municipal Affairs, he was often referred to as the 'Duke of Kent'. After he retired from politics in 1978, he spent a further career in business administering to his companies McKeough Investments and McKeough Supply. He also spent time as a member of the board of

Hydro One Hydro One Limited is an electricity transmission and distribution utility serving the Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 20th century and the establishment of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario ( ...

and was CEO of

Union Gas Union Gas was a major Canadian natural gas company based in Ontario. Its distribution arm serviced approximately 1.5 million customers in northern, southwestern and eastern Ontario. Union Gas has been a subsidiary of Enbridge since February 2017 ...

Background

Born in Chatham, Ontario and educated at

Ridley College Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the Ontario Secondary School Diploma ...

in St. Catharines, Canada. After which received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 1954.

Politics

From 1960 to 1961 and 1962 to 1963, he was a member of the Chatham City Council. In the 1963 provincial election, McKeough ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the southwestern Ontario riding of

. He defeated

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate G.R. Newkirk by 1,739 votes. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, he ran in the new riding of Chatham—Kent and defeated Liberal Tom Henry by 1,291 votes. He was re-elected in 1971, 1975 and 1977. In 1966 he was appointed to cabinet as a

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

by Premier

. In 1967 he was promoted to Minister of Municipal Affairs after the previous minister,

Wilf Spooner Joseph Wilfred Spooner (February 8, 1910 – February 14, 2001) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1967 who represented the northern Ontario riding o ...

was defeated in the 1967 election. Among other things, he introduced legislation to create the city of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

by an amalgamation of existing municipalities. In 1971, he entered the leadership race to replace Robarts who retired in December 1970. He was viewed as a compromise candidate between front runner

and contender Allan Lawrence. He placed third in the contest which was won by Davis. After McKeough dropped out he endorsed Davis which was seen as a key move in Davis's narrow victory. In return, Davis appointed McKeough to the senior cabinet post of Treasurer of Ontario and Minister of Economics. In September 1972, McKeough resigned from cabinet when it was revealed in a story by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' that he was involved in a conflict of interest when, as Minister of Municipal Affairs, his ministry had approved a housing development in which he was financially involved. In his resignation announcement, McKeough claimed he had done nothing wrong but felt that he could no longer continue in his position when is credibility would be continually questioned. In 1973 he was returned to cabinet as Minister of Energy. In January 1975, he was restored to the posts of Treasurer and Minister of Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs. In August 1978 he retired from politics.

Cabinet posts

Later life

After leaving political office in 1978 he returned to the private sector and has had a number of positions, particularly in the energy sector. In 1994, 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 ...

for his "successful business ventures and fund-raising efforts on behalf of educational, medical, research and cultural institutions".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKeough, Darcy 1933 births Businesspeople from Ontario Living people Finance ministers of Ontario Officers of the Order of Canada People from Chatham-Kent Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Ridley College alumni University of Western Ontario alumni