David Charles Dingwall (born June 29, 1952) is 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 ...
administrator, former
Canadian Cabinet
The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the ...
minister and
civil servant. He is the president of
Cape Breton University.
Political career
A
lawyer by training, Dingwall was first elected to the
House of Commons of Canada in the
1980 Canadian federal election
The 1980 Canadian federal election was held on February 18, 1980, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 32nd Parliament of Canada. It was called when the minority Progressive Conservative government led by Prime Minister Joe ...
as the
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 ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Cape Breton—East Richmond
Cape Breton—East Richmond was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1997.
This riding was created in 1966 from Cape Breton South, Inverness—Richmond and North ...
in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. He was re-elected in three subsequent elections, and served as
Opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...
House Leader
{{Politics of Canada
In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...
from 1991 to 1993.
In Cabinet
After the Liberals won the 1993 Canadian election under Jean Chrétien, Dingwall was appointed to Cabinet as the Minister of Public Works and Minister of Supply and Services, Minister responsible for Canada Post, Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing, Minister responsible for the Royal Canadian Mint, Minister responsible for Defence Construction Limited, and the Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Dingwall also served on several cabinet committees, including the Treasury Board and Economic Development. In 1996, Dingwall convinced the then prime minister of Canada to host the G7 Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Leaders from the G7 convened in Halifax and Boris Yeltsin, the president of Russia was a special attendee at that session. In 1996, Dingwall was appointed Minister of Health. In 1997, Dingwall passed the Tobacco Control Act, which at the time was the toughest tobacco legislation in the world. He was subsequently honoured by the Canadian Cancer Society and the World Health Organization.
1997 election
Dingwall ran for re-election in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
in the newly created riding of
Bras d'Or, losing by over 1,000 votes to
Michelle Dockrill
Michelle Dockrill (born May 22, 1959) is a Canadian former politician who represented the Nova Scotia riding of Bras d'Or in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2000.
Early life
Prior to entering politics, Dockrill was a member of the Nova Scot ...
of the
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
.
After politics
Following his defeat in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
, Dingwall was given an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University College of Cape Breton, recipient of the Connaught Award presented by the Canadian Lung Association. Dingwall served as president of Wallding International, a government relations firm and served on several corporate board of directors, including, Rogers Sugar Income Fund, MD Life, advisory board, State Street Global Advisors Inc., director of Webstandard Inc., and director of Journeys End Car Rental Limited.
Royal Canadian Mint
On February 27, 2003, the Government of Canada appointed Dingwall to the position of president and chief executive officer of the Royal Canadian Mint. His leadership led that organization to increase profitability and posting its first surplus in several years.
In the fall of 2005, Dingwall came under scrutiny for having allegedly made excessive expense claims while he was president of the Royal Canadian Mint. In the midst of these allegations, Dingwall resigned from the Mint on September 28, 2005. When questioned while giving testimony before Parliament as to why he felt he should receive a severance package after the voluntary resignation, he remarked "I'm entitled to my entitlements." The statement would be used by the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
in a
television advertisement
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
during the
2006 federal election that featured that part of Dingwall's testimony.
On leaving the Royal Canadian Mint, Dingwall called for an independent audit which was completed by PricewaterhouseCoopers who found "the expenses fell within the guidelines". A second independent review by the law firm of Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt found that the Mint's process for monitoring expenses were stricter than those of most private corporations. The twin reports completely exonerated Dingwall. On or about February 4, 2006, retired Superior Court Justice George Adams found that the Government of Canada essentially forced Dingwall out when he released his findings in a binding arbitration ruling.
Legal career
Dingwall is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and Law Society of Upper Canada. He was associated with the law firm of Sampson McDougall in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and now he is counsel to the law firm of Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP.
Academic career
For the 2011–2012 academic year, Dingwall was a distinguished visiting professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University.
Community involvement
Dingwall is a member of the board of directors of the Canada/China Business Council, a founding member of the Toronto Arbitrators’ Society, president of the Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation.
As President of Cape Breton University
On January 31, 2018, Dingwall was appointed president and vice-chancellor of
Cape Breton University by the university's board of governors.
Electoral results
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dingwall, David
1952 births
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Lawyers in Nova Scotia
Corporate scandals
Canadian people of Scottish descent
People from Sydney, Nova Scotia
Royal Canadian Mint presidents
Canadian Ministers of Health
Canadian Ministers of Health and Welfare