David Samuel Horne MacDonald (born August 20, 1936) 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 ...

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

minister, former politician, and author.

Early life

Born in Charlottetown,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, David MacDonald was ordained in the United Church by the Maritime Conference on June 11, 1961, and was a minister at Alberton,

Tignish Tignish is a Canadian town located in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is located approximately northwest of the city of Summerside, and northwest of the city of Charlottetown. It has a population of 719. The name "Tignish" is derive ...

, and Cascumpec,

before going into federal politics.

Political career

He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Progressive Conservative

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) from the former

riding of

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

in the 1965 election, and was re-elected in the realigned Egmont riding from

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

. After the Tory victory in the 1979 election, he was appointed Minister of Communications, Minister responsible for the Status of Women and

Secretary of State for Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Scot ...

in the short-lived Cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

. MacDonald lost his seat to

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 ...

George Henderson in the 1980 election but returned to the House as MP in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

riding of Rosedale in the 1988 election, replacing former Toronto Mayor and PC incumbent

David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Cons ...

. However, he lost his seat again to a

majority government in the 1993 election, this time to Bill Graham. Two other notable candidates ran against MacDonald in this election: future New Democratic Party (NDP) leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

, and magician

Doug Henning Douglas James Henning (May 3, 1947 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician. Early life Henning was born in the Fort Garry district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and began practising magic at Oaken ...

for the

Natural Law Party of Canada The Natural Law Party of Canada (NLPC) was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party founded in 1992 by a group of educators, business leaders, and lawyers who practised Transcendental Meditation. Description and history The ...

. MacDonald also spent time in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

between parliamentary duties. MacDonald had a reputation as a

Red Tory A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to fa ...

and subsequently switched his political allegiance to the social democratic New Democratic Party of Canada. He ran as the NDP candidate in his old riding (now called Toronto Centre-Rosedale) in the 1997 election, but was defeated again by Graham.

After politics

On November 25, 1998, The

appointed MacDonald a ''Special Advisor'' on residential schools, in light of major lawsuits against the UCC from former students.

Personal life

MacDonald was romantically involved with Alexa McDonough who at the time was leader of the federal NDP, prior to his 1997 candidacy. However, they split up prior to the 2004 federal election. MacDonald has since started another relationship and married.

Electoral record

Toronto Centre—Rosedale

Rosedale

Egmont

Prince

Notes

External links

*
United Church of Canada's appointment as Special Advisor for Residential Schools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, David 1936 births Living people People from Charlottetown Ministers of the United Church of Canada Members of the 21st Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Prince Edward Island Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs