Mickey MacDonald (born 1952) is an entrepreneur in Halifax,

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 four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada who has been involved in telecommunications, food retailing and the fitness industries.

Businesses

Clearwater

The first time MacDonald got back to Halifax, he helped his brother Colin and Rick, and brother-in-law

John Risley John Carter Risley (born April 26, 1948) is a Canadian billionaire businessman with interests in fisheries, food supplements, and communications. He is the co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods. Early life and career Risley was born on April 26, 19 ...

start up a fishery company called Clearwater.

DownEast Communications

MacDonald purchased the single telecommunications store located on the Bedford Highway that specialized in wireless communications in 1991 and grew it to 51 locations across Atlantic Canada. The company was sold to Aliant (now

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atlantic provinces and a few othe ...

) on October 1, 2004 Chicken_Burger

The Chickenburger

On March 19, 2007 MacDonald purchased

The Chickenburger The Chickenburger is a Bedford Highway roadside landmark located in Bedford, Nova Scotia that is reputed to be the oldest drive-in diner in Canada. History In 1930, Salter Innes founded the ''Bedford Sunnyside'' canteen along the Bedford Highwa ...

, a 1950s style diner located on the

Bedford Highway The Bedford Highway is a highway in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia that is part of Trunk 2. It runs around the western side of the Bedford Basin. The highway starts at the Windsor Street intersection on the Halifax Peninsula an ...

, which is considered to be a

Bedford, Nova Scotia Bedford is a community of the Halifax Regional Municipality, in Nova Scotia, Canada. History The area of Bedford has evidence of Indigenous peoples dating back thousands of years. Petroglyphs are found at Bedford Petroglyphs National Historic ...

landmark famous for its burgers that consist of boiled chicken on a hamburger bun.

Palooka’s Gym

In the spring of 2007, MacDonald founded Palooka's Gym, a fitness centre that focuses on its competitive boxing program in addition to general fitness in an old movie house on Göttingen Street in Downtown Halifax. On September 8, 2011 it was announced that Palooka's Gym on Göttingen St would be permanently ceasing operations by the end of the month, but there was also a location open on the Bedford highway.

Charities

Bella Rose Arts Centre

MacDonald contributed $300,000 CAD to Theatre Halifax, a community theatre in

Halifax West High School Halifax West High School is a Canadian public high school located in the Clayton Park neighbourhood in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Encompassing grades 10 through 12, Halifax West High School offers a variety of courses in b ...

. To show appreciation for this donation, the theatre changed its name to the Bella Rose Arts Centre in honour of MacDonald's mother Bella and his daughter Rose.

Personal life

MacDonald grew up one of seven children in

Fairview, Halifax Fairview is a community within the urban area of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. History Prior to European colonization, the Mi'kmaq lived on the land for thousands of years. In the 1750s, many of the Foreign Protestants settled in the area. F ...

. He left school in grade nine and worked at odd jobs across Canada, spending some time homeless in

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 ...

, Ontario. While in Toronto he started

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

competitively. MacDonald later completed a

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

. One of his brothers, Colin, is also a prominent Halifax area businessman while another, Rick, is a boxing trainer. MacDonald is alleged to have sexually harassed at least one of his female employees multiple times.

References

External links

Palooka's Gym

The ChickenBurger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Mickey 1952 births Living people Businesspeople from Nova Scotia Canadian people of Scottish descent People from Halifax, Nova Scotia