View source for Donald C. MacDonald

{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{For|other people named Donald MacDonald |Donald MacDonald (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Donald C. MacDonald
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OOnt|size=100%}}
| image = Donald c. macdonald speaking.jpg
| caption = MacDonald at [[Paul Ferreira]]'s [[York South—Weston (federal electoral district)|York South—Weston]] victory party, [[2007 Ontario provincial by-elections|February 8, 2007]]
| office = Leader of the Ontario [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)|CCF]] and [[Ontario New Democratic Party|NDP]]
| term_start = 1953
| term_end = 1970
| predecessor = [[Ted Jolliffe]]
| successor = [[Stephen Lewis]]
| office1 = President of the [[New Democratic Party of Canada]]
| term_start1 = 1971
| term_end1 = 1975
| predecessor1 = [[Allan Blakeney]]
| successor1 = Joyce Nash
| majority =
| office2 = [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Member of Provincial Parliament]]
| term_start2 = June 9, 1955
| term_end2 =November 4, 1982
| predecessor2 =[[William George Beech|William Beech]] ([[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]])
| successor2 =[[Bob Rae]] ([[Ontario New Democratic Party|NDP]])
| constituency2 = [[York South (Ontario provincial electoral district)|York South]]
| office3 =
| term_start3 =
| term_end3 =
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| constituency3 =
| majority3 =
| birth_name=Donald Cameron MacDonald
| birth_date = December 7, 1913
| birth_place = [[Cranbrook, British Columbia]] 
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|3|08|1913|12|7}}
| death_place = [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]]
| party = [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)|Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]]/[[New Democratic Party]]
| relations =
| spouse = Simone MacDonald
| children = 3
| residence = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] 
| occupation = Teacher and Journalist
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Donald Cameron MacDonald''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OOnt}} (December 7, 1913 &ndash; March 8, 2008) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[politician]]. Referred to in the media as the "best [[Premier of Ontario|premier]] Ontario never had,"<ref name=martin/>  he represented the provincial riding of [[York South (Ontario provincial electoral district)|York South]] in the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] from 1955 to 1982. From 1953 to 1970 he was the leader of the [[social democratic]] [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section)|Ontario section]] of the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] and its successor, the [[Ontario New Democratic Party]].<ref name="happy">{{cite book
  | last = MacDonald
  | first = Donald C.
  | title = The Happy Warrior: Political Memoirs
  | edition = 2
  | publisher = Dundurn Press
  | year = 1998
  | location = Toronto
  | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=pj1Ddn4HJM8C
  |isbn=1-55002-307-1 }}</ref>

== Early life and career ==

MacDonald was born in [[Cranbrook, British Columbia|Cranbrook]], [[British Columbia]], and moved with his family to [[Ormstown, Quebec|Tullochgorum]], [[Quebec]] in 1923 and then earned a bachelor's and master's degree from [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]].<ref name=martin>{{Cite news
 |last        = Martin
 |first       = Sandra
 |title       = DONALD C. MACDONALD: 1913-2008: 'Best premier Ontario never had,' Donald C. MacDonald dies at 94
 |newspaper   = [[The Globe and Mail]]
 |location    = Toronto
 |pages       = A10
 |publisher   = [[CTVglobemedia]]
 |date        = 2008-03-10
 |url         = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080310.MACDONALD10/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/
 |access-date  = 2009-12-20
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080313234336/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080310.MACDONALD10/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/
 |archive-date = 2008-03-13
}}</ref>
He supported the [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative Party of Canada]] in his youth, but became a [[democratic socialist]] after witnessing the social problems of the [[Great Depression]].  He worked for several years as a teacher and journalist, and was employed by the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'' in the mid-1930s.<ref name="happy"/>

== Armed forces service ==

MacDonald joined the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] in 1942, and served in Canada during [[World War II]] as secretary of a top-secret intelligence committee, the main responsibility of which was to transmit enemy submarine positions to the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]. He later became editor of ''Canadian Digest'', a magazine published by the military that provided a cross section of articles from Canadian periodicals and newspapers, and was the host of ''Serviceman's Forum'', a regular series of broadcasts on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] that were also aired by the [[BBC|British Broadcasting Corporation]].  Members of the military and civilian experts discussed issues of concern in these broadcasts.<ref name="happy"/>

== Political life ==

===CCF involvement===

MacDonald joined the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) while serving in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]] in 1942. In 1946, he joined the national CCF staff and travelled the country as a [[party organizer]]. He was a candidate in the August [[1953 Canadian federal election|1953 federal election]] for the British Columbia [[Electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Kootenay East]], and finished a strong third against [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[James Allen Byrne|Jim Byrne]] with 28% of the vote. He was persuaded to run for the [[Ontario CCF/NDP leadership elections#Ontario CCF leadership convention, 1953|Ontario CCF leadership]] later in the same year, and defeated [[Fred Young (Ontario politician)|Fred Young]] and [[Andrew Brewin]] for the position.<ref name="secular">{{Cite book
  | last =Morley
  | first =John Terence
  | title =Secular Socialists the CCF/NDP in Ontario, a Biography
  | place =Kingston-Montreal
  | publisher =McGill-Queen's University
  | year =1984
  | edition =1st
  | url =https://archive.org/details/secularsocialist00morl
  | isbn =0-7735-0390-0
  | url-access =registration
  }}</ref>

===Leading the party===
MacDonald took over the party in the middle of the [[Cold War]] and at the height of [[McCarthyism]], when [[socialism]] was viewed with suspicion.<ref name="secular"/> The CCF had almost won power in Ontario ten years earlier, winning 34 seats in the [[1943 Ontario general election|1943 provincial election]], but by the time MacDonald became leader it held only two seats in the legislature. MacDonald was himself without a seat until the [[1955 Ontario general election|1955 provincial election]], when he defeated [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] incumbent [[William George Beech|William Beech]] by 1,426 votes in [[York South (Ontario provincial electoral district)|York South]].<ref name="secular"/>  His victory increased the CCF's legislative standing to three seats, and MacDonald quickly became known as one of the most vocal members of the legislature.  He fought for issues such as [[prison reform]] and [[universal public healthcare]], and emphasised pragmatism over doctrinaire [[socialism]] as he tried to appeal to voters as a moderate reformer. Some [[Toronto]] newspapers described him as the ''de facto'' opposition leader against [[Leslie Frost]]'s Progressive Conservative government.<ref name="secular"/> His pursuit of the [[Northern Ontario Natural Gas]] scandal led to the resignation of three members of Frost's cabinet.<ref name="secular"/>

MacDonald slowly rebuilt the party during his tenure as leader, and provided it with a benevolent public face. The CCF grew to five seats in the [[1959 Ontario general election|1959 provincial election]]. Following the founding of the federal [[New Democratic Party]] in 1961, he was acclaimed as the first leader of the Ontario NDP in October 1961.<ref name="secular"/>  The new party won seven seats in the [[1963 Ontario general election|1963 election]], and MacDonald later expressed disappointment that a larger breakthrough did not occur.<ref name="secular"/>

As the province's population became more urban and as social issues came to the forefront of political discussion, the NDP had a major breakthrough in the [[1967 Ontario general election|1967 election]] rising from seven seats to 20.<ref name="secular"/> This new success led to increasing pressure for new leadership, as the party was seen as a potential victor and many activists felt a younger leader was needed to catch the mood of the times. [[Jim Renwick (Canadian politician)|Jim Renwick]] challenged MacDonald for the party leadership in 1968, but lost.<ref name="secular"/> In 1970, [[Stephen Lewis]] was able to marshall support among the Steelworkers union with which his family had strong links.<ref name="secular"/> (His father, [[David Lewis (Canadian politician)|David Lewis]], had represented the [[United Steelworkers|steelworkers]] as a labour lawyer for many years.)  MacDonald decided not to seek re-election as leader in order to avoid a divisive fight. At the [[leadership convention]] that fall, Stephen Lewis defeated [[Walter Pitman]] and succeeded MacDonald as Ontario NDP leader.<ref name="secular"/>

===1970 stepping away from leadership===
MacDonald was officially neutral in the 1970 leadership contest, but tacitly favoured Pitman.<ref name="secular"/> In his autobiography, MacDonald notes that he was initially skeptical about the younger Lewis's leadership abilities, and believed that his election "fitted conveniently into the Tory plans" for the next election.<ref name="happy"/>  The Progressive Conservative government was able to rally business support by depicting Lewis as dangerously left-wing, and the NDP did not gain seats in the [[1971 Ontario general election|1971 election]]. MacDonald has also argued that the party's breakthrough under Lewis in the [[1975 Ontario general election|1975 election]] was made possible by Lewis's decision to moderate his more strident views.<ref name="happy"/>

At the federal level, MacDonald attended the [[1971 New Democratic Party leadership election|1971 NDP Federal Leadership Convention]] and ran for party president.<ref name="Goldblatt">{{Cite news
| last = Goldblatt
| first = Murray
| title = Bloc of union delegates aids establishment to fend off Waffle drive for party offices
| newspaper = [[The Globe and Mail]]
| location = Toronto
| pages = 10
| publisher = [[CTVglobemedia]]
| date = 1971-04-24
}}</ref>  The 1960s youth-quake was moving into federal politics, and a group of [[New Left]] academics and activists called [[The Waffle]] presented the fiercest opposition to MacDonald and other "establishment" members.<ref name="Goldblatt"/>  He was up against Carol Gudmundson — of the [[Saskatoon]], [[Saskatchewan]] Waffle — in the battle for the party presidency.<ref name="Goldblatt"/>  With the help of the union delegations, and the party's establishment, MacDonald was victorious on April 23, 1971 and became the president during the same convention that saw [[Tommy Douglas]] pass the leadership torch on to David Lewis.<ref name="Goldblatt"/>  He got 885 votes to Gudmundson's 565, and started the trend that day that saw Waffle candidates getting defeated at almost every federal council and executive position.<ref name="Goldblatt"/>

===Retiring from York South and beyond===
MacDonald supported [[Ian Deans]]'s unsuccessful bid to replace Lewis as party leader in 1978, and helped to draft [[Bob Rae]] for the leadership in 1982. He then resigned as an MPP in 1982, to give Rae an opportunity to enter the legislature. MacDonald served as chair of the NDP caucus from 1982 to 1985, and was chair of the Ontario Election Finances Commission from 1986 to 1994.<ref name="happy"/>

MacDonald's autobiography, ''Happy Warrior: Political Memoirs'', was published in 1988 and the second edition in 1998, to add the Rae years as the first NDP Ontario government.<ref name="happy"/>

He became a [[Member of the Order of Canada]] in 2003 and also holds an [[Order of Ontario]].<ref name="gg">{{cite web
| title = Donald C. MacDonald, C.M., O.Ont., M.A., LL.D.
| work = Honours, Order of Canada
| publisher = [[Governor General of Canada]]
| date = 2003-10-24
| url = http://archive.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=9060
| access-date = 2009-09-08}}</ref>

===Paul Ferreira===
By the early 2000s, the NDP was near the bottom of their decline in MacDonald's home riding. Rae had held the riding for 14 years before it fell to the Liberals in 1996. The riding's name was changed to [[York South—Weston (federal electoral district)|York South—Weston]] for the 1999 provincial election and it became a much larger riding than it was when he represented it.

In 2004, MacDonald supported a young NDP Provincial Executive member named [[Paul Ferreira]] in his campaign to be the area's MPP. Ferreira would raise the NDP's vote substantially from 3.7% to over 21%. While not good enough for a win, it allowed him to eventually, after four elections in two and half years, win the seat [[Ontario provincial by-elections, 2007|February 8, 2007]]. Donald MacDonald supported him through all these campaigns and was there to publicly congratulate Ferreira and pass on the generational torch at the victory party.

==Death==
MacDonald died in 2008 of heart failure at [[Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto)|Mount Sinai Hospital]] in Toronto. He was 94.<ref name=martin/>

==References==

===Notes===
{{reflist|}}

===Bibliography===

*{{Cite book
 | first = Dan
 | last = Azoulay
 | editor-last = Azoulay 
 | editor-first = Dan 
 | title = A Desperate Holding Action: The Survival of the Ontario CCF/NDP, 1948-1964 
 | series = Canadian political parties:historical readings 
 | year = 1999
 | pages = 342–363 
 | place = Toronto
 | publisher = Irwin Publishing
 |isbn = 0-7725-2703-2
}}
* {{cite book
  | last = MacDonald
  | first = Donald C.
  | title = The Happy Warrior: Political Memoirs, 2nd Ed.
  | publisher = Dundurn Press
  | year = 1998
  | location = Toronto, ON, Canada
  |isbn=1-55002-307-1 }} Forewords by [[Desmond Morton (historian)|Desmond Morton]], [[Howard Hampton]]. 
* {{Cite book
  | last =Morley
  | first =John Terence
  | title =Secular Socialists the CCF/NDP in Ontario, a Biography
  | place =Kingston-Montreal
  | publisher =McGill-Queen's University
  | year =1984
  | edition =1st
  | url =https://archive.org/details/secularsocialist00morl
  | isbn =0-7735-0390-0
  | url-access =registration
  }}

== External links ==
*[http://db.archives.queensu.ca/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=MENU_QUERY&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http://archives.queensu.ca/dbtw-wpd/fondsdb/wiki.htm&TN=fonds&SN=DCMacdonald&RF=HTML+-+Fonds+Display&EF=&DF=HTML+-+Fonds+Display&MR=20&RL=1&EL=1&DL=1&NP=0 Donald Cameron MacDonald fonds]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at [http://archives.queensu.ca/ Queen’s University Archives]
*{{Ontario MPP biography|id=donald-cameron-macdonald}}

{{Ontario NDP Leaders}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Donald C.}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian socialists]]
[[Category:Canadian Unitarians]]
[[Category:Canadian military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPPs]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Ontario New Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Presidents of the New Democratic Party of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Ontario]]
[[Category:Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs]]
[[Category:People from Cranbrook, British Columbia]]
[[Category:Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidates for the Canadian House of Commons]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]