Malcolm Wallace McCutcheon, (May 18, 1906 – January 23, 1969) 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 ...

lawyer, actuary and politician.

Life and career

Wallace McCutcheon was born in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he was a member of the

Wartime Prices and Trade Board The Wartime Prices and Trade Board is a former Canadian government agency, established on September 3, 1939, by the Mackenzie King government, under the authority of the ''War Measures Act'', in the Department of Labour responsible for price con ...

. Together with Edward Plunkett Taylor and Colonel W. Eric Phillips, he was a founder of the Argus Corporation, an investment company that controlled a variety of businesses, including

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in ...

farm machinery and Dominion grocery stores. He was appointed to the Senate of Canada on August 9, 1962, on the recommendation of Prime Minister

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...

. McCutcheon sat in the caucus of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...

and represented the senatorial division of

Gormley, Ontario Gormley is a hamlet in York Region, Ontario, Canada that overlaps parts of Richmond Hill, and Whitchurch–Stouffville, two municipalities within the Greater Toronto Area. It was divided into two parts due to the construction of Highway 404. A po ...

. He served as a Minister without portfolio in Diefenbaker's government from his appointment to February 11, 1963, when he was promoted to Minister of Trade and Commerce. His promotion was generally regarded as a move to shore up support for the Progressive Conservatives among members of Canada's financial sector. The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1963 federal election, and the Diefenbaker government resigned on April 21, 1963. McCutcheon later supported

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 ...

's efforts to call a

leadership review In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, ...

and remove Diefenbaker as party leader. McCutcheon provided financial support for the Progressive Conservative Party of British Columbia in the 1963 provincial election. He was also a fundraiser for the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. McCutcheon ran for the leadership of the PC Party at the 1967 leadership convention, placing sixth out of eleven candidate on the first ballot, and withdrawing from the race after the second ballot to endorse the eventual winner, Robert Stanfield. McCutcheon ran as an unabashed "small-c conservative", i.e., a candidate of the party's right-wing. He had considerable support and financing from

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stre ...

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 ...

financial district A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

. He campaigned aggressively against "big government" and "creeping

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

". He used dozens of attractive young women in his demonstration at the convention (dubbed "blonde goddesses" by the ''Toronto Star''), and advocated a guaranteed annual income of $10,000 per adult as an alternative to the various social programs offered by different levels of government. He also advocated a "made-in-Canada" constitution to replace the British North America Acts and to guarantee the rights of Canadians, including language and cultural rights. He opposed public medicare. He resigned from the Senate on May 13, 1968, in order to contest the 1968 federal election as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Ontario riding of

York—Simcoe York—Simcoe is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1979, from 1988 to 1997 and since 2004. It covers part of the region north of Toronto by Lake Simcoe. ...

. He placed second with 13,100 votes (37.3% of the vote), compared to 15,906 won by

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...

. McCutcheon died in 1969, at the age of 62.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCutcheon, Malcolm Wallace 1906 births 1969 deaths Businesspeople from London, Ontario Canadian senators from Ontario Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Lawyers in Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates Progressive Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 1968 Canadian federal election

Life and career

Archives

References

External links