Lawrence A. MacAulay (born September 9, 1946) 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 ...

politician, who has represented the riding of Cardigan,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, 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 seve ...

in 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. ...

since 1988. On June 11, 1997, he joined the 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 is not ...

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

as Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for Prince Edward Island. In 1998, he was appointed Solicitor General of Canada and served in that role until his resignation from Cabinet on October 21, 2002, during a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

inquiry. MacAuley served as a Liberal

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

member of Parliament (MP) through the rest of the Liberal years in power and as an opposition member during the

Conservative 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 i ...

government led by

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, ...

(2006–2015). He is the former Secretary of State (Veterans) and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency). He was also the Official Opposition Critic for Seniors. On March 20, 2014, MacAulay became the longest-serving MP in the history of Prince Edward Island, surpassing the record previously set by

Angus MacLean John Angus MacLean (May 15, 1914 – February 15, 2000) was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was an alumnus of both Mount Allison University and the University of British Columbia with degrees in science. MacL ...

. On November 4, 2015, he was appointed the

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food The minister of agriculture and agri-food (french: ministre de l'agriculture et de l'agroalimentaire) is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada, who is responsible for overseeing several organizations including Agriculture and Agri-Foo ...

by the new prime minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

. On March 1, 2019, Trudeau shuffled his cabinet, appointing MacAulay as Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. MacAulay lives in

with his wife, Frances.

Controversy

In December 2022, MacAulay was confronted in parliament by other MPs on multiple reports of Veterans Affairs Canada offering medical assistance in dying (MAID) to veterans seeking medical care. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the incidents as "absolutely unacceptable".

Electoral record

References

External links

Official siteBio & Mandate from Prime Minister
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Lawrence 1946 births Living people People from Kings County, Prince Edward Island Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Prince Edward Island Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Solicitors General of Canada Farmers from Prince Edward Island Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Ministers of Labour of Canada Agriculture ministers of Canada