Don Johnston

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Donald James Johnston, PC (born June 26, 1936) is a former Canadian politician, lawyer, and was Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 1996 to 2006.

1 Early life
2 Politics
3 Post politics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Civil Laws degree from McGill University. In 1961, he joined the law firm of Stikeman Elliott. In 1972, he was a founding partner of Johnston Heenan Blaikie (now just Heenan Blaikie). From 1964 to 1977, he was a lecturer in fiscal law in the Faculty of Law of McGill University.

[edit] Politics

Johnston was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a 1978 by-election in Westmount in Montreal, Quebec, as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada. Johnston served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1980 to 1984 as President of the Treasury Board and in several other positions. When Trudeau announced his retirement in 1984, Johnston ran to succeed him as Liberal leader and prime minister in that year's Liberal leadership convention. Johnston placed in third behind John Turner and Jean Chrétien. Johnston served as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in the short-lived Turner government until its defeat in the 1984 federal election.

In opposition Johnston and Turner split over the issue of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement: Johnston supported free trade while Turner passionately opposed it. On January 18, 1988, Johnston resigned from the Liberal caucus to sit as an "Independent Liberal" until retiring from Parliament when the 1988 general election was called.

[edit] Post politics

Johnston returned to the Liberal fold in 1990, after Turner's resignation as leader, and served two terms as president of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 1994, seeing the party through its victory in the 1993 general election.

In 1996 the government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien proposed Johnston for the position of Secretary-General of the OECD. Johnston was elected to the post by the organization's member governments, took up the position on June 1, 1996. He stepped down in 31 May 2006.[1]