Jason MacDonald is a Canadian communications professional and was the candidate for the

Ontario PC Party The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

in the

2011 Ontario election The 2011 Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011, to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party was elected to a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Pa ...

in the riding of

Ottawa South Ottawa South (french: Ottawa-Sud) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by David McGuinty, brother of former Premier of Ontario and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty ...

. In 2013, MacDonald was appointed as Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

's eighth

Director of Communications Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...

Early life

Education

MacDonald holds an M.A. from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

and a B.A. from

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...

Personal life

MacDonald has twin daughters, Molly and Ella, with his wife Lara.

Communications career

MacDonald was the Chief of Staff at CBC Television in Toronto, followed later by his role as the Director of Public Relations and Operations at CBC Corporate Communications in Ottawa. MacDonald then moved into his role as Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs with Veritas Corporation, a full-service communications agency in Toronto. In 2009, MacDonald moved back to Ottawa and was hired as

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

's Director of Communications. He would take a leave of absence from this role so he could run in the 2011 election, and returned for a short period of time. MacDonald served as the Department of Aboriginal Affairs Minister's Director of Communications for almost two years, serving under John Duncan then

Bernard Valcourt Bernard Valcourt, (born February 18, 1952) is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served as Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Madawaska—Restigouche, New Brunswick until he was defeated in the 2015 federal election. Early f ...

. Rumours began on September 10, 2013 when Ottawa journalist Don Martin wrote that "sources" said MacDonald was about to be named Harper's Communications Director. MacDonald's initial response seemed like he was denying the rumour, succinctly replying "I’m happy working for Minister Valcourt. Thanks. Jason." Two days later MacDonald was named as the Prime Minister's Office's Director of Communications. In 2015, Jason Macdonald joined Hill+Knowlton, a global public affairs and government relations firm in Ottawa. He currently serves as Vice-President of Corporate Communications.

2011 Ontario PC Party Candidate

MacDonald was elected as the Ontario PC candidate for the riding of

, and was faced with the tough challenge of facing off against then-sitting Premier

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nearl ...

. Since PC Party leader Tim Hudak was unilingual English, MacDonald was given the responsibility of speaking for the Ontario PC Party during the French leaders' debate. McGuinty would win by 7,000 votes, but the Ontario Liberals would also lose their majority government.

Appointment as Harper's Director of Communications

Rumours began on September 10, 2013 when Ottawa journalist Don Martin tweeted that "sources" said MacDonald was about to be named Harper's Communications Director. MacDonald's initial response seemed like he was denying the rumour, succinctly replying "I’m happy working for Minister Valcourt. Thanks. Jason." Two days later MacDonald was named as the Prime Minister's Office's Director of Communications, replacing Andrew MacDougall, who left for a job in England. Former

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

speechwriter Scott Reid described MacDonald as "a great guy," "genuinely decent," and "well-motivated."

Libel case

In January 2014, Jason MacDonald accused the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) of having "documented ties to a terrorist organization such as Hamas". The NCCM, 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 ...

Muslim civil liberties organization, filed a libel notice the same month in response, demanding a retraction and apology. Subsequently, on May 26, 2014, the NCCM filed a defamation lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court against Jason MacDonald and Prime Minister Stephen Harper as it had not received a retraction. In February 2015, Jason MacDonald was questioned under oath in the defamation case and Stephen Harper claimed parliamentary privilege to avoid testifying. That same month, MacDonald resigned as the Prime Minister's communications director. In March 2017, as part of a settlement between NCCM and Jason MacDonald, he admitted that his statements regarding the NCCM were inaccurate. The Government of Canada also issued a statement "disavowing MacDonald's suggestion that the council had terrorist ties."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Jason 1971 births Living people Canadian political consultants Communications directors of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office Wilfrid Laurier University alumni People from Montreal Bishop's University alumni