Allan MacEachen

This article is about the former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. For the British Columbian judge and lawyer, see Allan McEachern.

The Honourable Allan MacEachen PC OC
MacEachen shortly after first being elected to the House of Commons.
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
In office 16 September 1977 – 4 June 1979
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	None
In office 3 March 1980 – 30 June 1984
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Succeeded by	Jean Chrétien
Member of Parliament for Inverness—Richmond (1953-1958; 1962-1968); Cape Breton Highlands—Canso (1968-1984)
In office 1953 – 1958
Preceded by	William F. Carroll
Succeeded by	Robert MacLellan
In office 1962 – 1984
Preceded by	Robert MacLellan
Succeeded by	Lawrence O'Neil
Personal details
Born	Allan Joseph MacEachen (1921-07-06) July 6, 1921 Inverness, Nova Scotia
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada
Profession	Economist, professor
Religion	Roman Catholic

Allan Joseph MacEachen, PC OC (born July 6, 1921) is a retired Canadian politician, a many-time Cabinet minister, a retired Senator, one of Canada's elder statesmen, and was the first Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, serving from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.

Early life

Born in Inverness on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, MacEachen graduated from St. Francis Xavier University, and lectured in economics for several years at the school. His parents were Scottish Gaelic speakers who both spoke the language at home.

Enters politics

He was elected for the first time to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1953 election, as a Liberal under the leadership of Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent. He was re-elected in the 1957 election, but was defeated in the Progressive Conservative Diefenbaker sweep in the 1958 election—the largest federal electoral victory in the history of Canada.

MacEachen was re-elected to parliament in the 1962 general election and was re-elected again in the 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1980 elections.

Cabinet minister

When Lester B. Pearson formed a Liberal government in 1963, he appointed MacEachen to cabinet as Minister of Labour. This was the beginning of a lengthy career in cabinet in which MacEachen served in several portfolios under prime ministers Pearson, Pierre Trudeau and John Turner. In addition to Labour, MacEachen held the following portfolios: National Health and Welfare, Manpower and Immigration, Privy Council, External Affairs and Finance.

In addition to his ministerial responsibilities, MacEachen served as Government House Leader on three occasions, and became the first Deputy Prime Minister of Canada in 1977 under Trudeau, a post he held whenever Trudeau was in office from that time until his retirement.

In his memoirs, published in 1993, Trudeau wrote that MacEachen "had a very good strategic sense, both in and out of Parliament, and he lived and breathed politics." For Trudeau, he "was always a source of shrewd advice", and "was the kind of man I respected, because he had no ulterior motives; he said what he thought, and the reasons he would give were always his real reasons".

In 1968 MacEachen contested the leadership of the Liberal Party, but did not do well largely because there was a second Nova Scotian on the ballot. He was courted to run for leader again in 1984 but opted to support John Turner, the eventual winner.

In 1979, when the Liberals lost the election to Joe Clark's Tories, MacEachen served as interim Leader of the Opposition when Trudeau announced he would retire from politics. Trudeau's short-lived retirement ended with the defeat of Clark's government and the Liberals' return to power with a majority government on February 18, 1980. MacEachen resumed his job as Finance Minister, and in 1982 angered public sector unions by imposing a wage restraint package dubbed "six and five"—limiting wage increases to six and five per cent in the following two years. (This was at a time when double-digit interest rates and inflation were common.)

Senator

Turner, the new party leader and prime minister, recommended him for appointment to the Senate where he became Leader of the Government in the Senate. Although he was only in this position briefly, as Turner lost the 1984 election, he started the practice of allowing opposition senators to chair a number of committees, a practice that continues today.

From 1984 to 1991 he served as leader of the opposition in the Senate, where he was regarded as the primary opposition to Brian Mulroney's first term due to Mulroney's substantial majority in the Commons, with an opposition that was spread nearly equally between Turner's Liberals and Ed Broadbent's New Democratic Party. In 1988, after a request by Turner, MacEachen blocked the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in the Senate to force an election before the issue was settled. The agreement would be the main issue of the 1988 election. After Mulroney's victory, MacEachen and the Senate passed the agreement.

After the election, MacEachen again used the Senate to block the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. Brian Mulroney recommended for appointment several new senators, and used an emergency power in the Constitution Act, 1867 that allowed him to recommend for appointment eight new Senators. MacEachen then led a filibuster against the bill, with Liberal members defying speaker Guy Charbonneau. Charbonneau voted for Tory motions. The Liberal senators used other tactics to delay Senate business. Soon, the motion was passed, and the Progressive Conservative majority passed new rules for the Senate forbidding such actions.

MacEachen retired from the Senate in 1996 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, and became a one-dollar-per-year adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Further controversy ensued in 1998 when it was discovered he was still using a full Senate office.

Retirement

St. Francis Xavier University holds the annual Allan J. MacEachen lecture in his honour.

In 2000, the Allan J. MacEachen International Academic and Cultural Centre was opened. The complex consists of a secondary school, Dalbrae Academy, and Strathspey Place, a performing arts centre.

In 2006, MacEachen endorsed Bob Rae's candidacy to lead the Liberal Party, and was appointed honorary campaign chair of Rae's campaign.[1]

As a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, MacEachen is entitled to use the honorific 'The Honourable' for life. This appointment was made upon his appointment to cabinet.

In 2008, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

External links

• Allan MacEachen – Parliament of Canada biography

23rd Ministry – Cabinet of John Turner
Cabinet Post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Bud Olson	Leader of the Government in the Senate June 30, 1984 – September 17, 1984	Duff Roblin
22nd Ministry – Second cabinet of Pierre Trudeau
Cabinet Posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Mark MacGuigan	Secretary of State for External Affairs September 10, 1982 – June 30, 1984	Jean Chrétien
John Crosbie	Minister of Finance March 3, 1980 – September 9, 1982	Marc Lalonde
himself, then vacant	Deputy Prime Minister of Canada March 3, 1980 – June 30, 1984	Jean Chrétien
20th Ministry – First cabinet of Pierre Trudeau
Cabinet Posts (8)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
position created / previous Senior Minister Paul Hellyer	Deputy Prime Minister of Canada September 16, 1977 – June 4, 1979	vacant, then himself
Mitchell Sharp	President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada September 14, 1976 – June 4, 1979	Walter David Baker
Mitchell Sharp	Secretary of State for External Affairs August 8, 1974 – September 13, 1976	Donald Jamieson
Donald Stovel Macdonald	President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada September 24, 1970 – August 7, 1974	Mitchell Sharp
Jean Marchand	Minister of Manpower and Immigration July 6, 1968 – September 23, 1970	Otto Lang
Pierre Trudeau	President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (acting) May 2, 1968 – 5 July 1968	Donald Stovel Macdonald
cont'd from 19th Min.	Minister of Amateur Sport April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968	'
cont'd from 19th Min.	Minister of National Health and Welfare April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968	John Munro
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Mitchell Sharp	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (September 14, 1976 – March 26, 1979)	Walter David Baker
Donald Stovel Macdonald	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (September 24, 1970 – May 9, 1974)	Mitchell Sharp
19th Ministry – Cabinet of Lester B. Pearson
Cabinet Posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Judy LaMarsh	Minister of National Health and Welfare 18 December 1965 – 20 April 1968	cont'd into 20th Min.
'	Minister of Amateur Sport 18 December 1965 – 20 April 1968	cont'd into 20th Min.
Michael Starr	Minister of Labour 22 April 1963 – 17 December 1965	John Robert Nicholson
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
George James McIlraith	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (May 4, 1967 – April 20, 1968)	Donald Stovel Macdonald
Party political offices
Preceded by position created	Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada 1977–1984	Succeeded by Jean Chrétien
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by William F. Carroll	Member of Parliament for Inverness—Richmond 1953–1958	Succeeded by Robert MacLennan
Preceded by Robert MacLennan	Member of Parliament for Inverness—Richmond 1962–1968	Succeeded by riding abolished
Preceded by riding created	Member of Parliament for Cape Breton Highlands—Canso 1968–1984	Succeeded by Lawrence O'Neil
Government offices
Preceded by Jacques Flynn	Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada September 16, 1984 – November 30, 1991	Succeeded by Royce Herbert Frith