Eric William Kierans (February 2, 1914 – May 10, 2004) 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 ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and politician.

Early life

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Kierans grew up in the working-class

Saint-Henri Saint-Henri is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest. Saint-Henri is usually considered to be bounded to the east by Atwater Avenue, to the west by the town of Montreal West, to the north by Au ...

neighbourhood. His father worked at

Canadian Car and Foundry Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F), also variously known as "Canadian Car & Foundry" or more familiarly as "Can Car", was a manufacturer of buses, railway rolling stock, forestry equipment, and later aircraft for the Canadian market. CC&F history g ...

, and his mother came to Canada as a domestic. From 1927 to 1935, he attended Loyola College.

Career

After serving as director of the school of

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and president of the

Montreal Stock Exchange The Montreal Exchange (MX; french: Bourse de Montréal), formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), is a derivatives exchange, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that trades futures contracts and option (finance), options on equities, indices, c ...

, Kierans entered provincial politics in 1963. Nicknamed the "Socialist Millionaire," he was appointed Minister of Revenue and then

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the Quebec Liberal government of

Quebec Premier The premier of Quebec (French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of th ...

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; 10 June 1912 – 12 December 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960 to 16 June 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is ...

during the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...

. Kierans became president of the Quebec Liberal Party and clashed with former cabinet minister and colleague

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

in 1967, daring him to give up the idea of

Quebec separatism The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision o ...

or quit the Liberal Party. Lévesque later quit the Liberal Party and established the ''

Mouvement Souveraineté-Association The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association (MSA, ''English: Movement for Sovereignty-Association'') was a separatist movement formed on November 19, 1967 by René Lévesque to promote the concept of sovereignty-association between Quebec and the res ...

'', which became Quebec's leading sovereigntist party as the ''

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

''. Initially a critic of

Walter L. Gordon Walter Lockhart Gordon (January 27, 1906 – March 21, 1987) was a Canadian accountant, businessman, politician, and writer. Education Born in Toronto, he was educated at Upper Canada College and the Royal Military College of Canada in Kings ...

economic nationalism Economic nationalism, also called economic patriotism and economic populism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism over other market mechanisms, with policies such as domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, incl ...

, Kierans' experience in government changed his mind, and he became a believer in the need for state intervention in the economy. In 1968, Kierans entered federal politics running unsuccessfully for the leadership of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

at its 1968 leadership convention. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in the 1968 federal election. Kierans served as Postmaster-General and Minister of Communications in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

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 is not ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

. He did not run for re-election in the 1972 election, partly as a result of his criticisms of Trudeau's economic policy. Kierans called for Canada to leave the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO) in 1969. He argued that the organization might have served a useful purpose on its initial formation but had since become anachronistic. Some others with the Trudeau government agreed with Kierans, but others strongly disagreed. The Trudeau government ultimately kept Canada in NATO but reduced Canada's troop deployment. He considered running for the leadership of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

in 1975 but declined in favour of

Ed Broadbent John Edward "Ed" Broadbent (born March 21, 1936) is a Canadian social-democratic politician, political scientist, and chair of the Broadbent Institute, a policy thinktank. He was leader of the New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 200 ...

. After leaving politics, Kierans taught at McGill and

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university 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 fou ...

. In the 1980s, he became a familiar voice appearing with

Dalton Camp Dalton Kingsley Camp, (September 11, 1920 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian journalist, politician, political strategist and commentator, and supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Although he was never elected to a se ...

and

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of those years as leade ...

as part of a weekly political panel on

Peter Gzowski Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada",Mary Gazze Canadian Press via The ''Toronto Star'', August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-06-27. was a Canadian broadcaster, write ...

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

radio show, '' Morningside''. 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 ...

References

External links

Eric Kierans, 90
Globe and Mail obituary
Eric Kierans, 90: Politician respected for candour
Toronto Star obituary
Order of Canada Citation
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kierans, Eric 1914 births 2004 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian economists Canadian nationalists Dalhousie University faculty Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidates Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada McGill University faculty Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from Montreal Postmasters General of Canada Quebec Liberal Party MNAs

Early life

Career

Archives

References

External links