Jack MacDonald (Hamilton politician)
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John A. (Jack) MacDonald is a politician, businessman and journalist in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He served as Mayor of Hamilton from 1976 to 1980, and wrote a column in the Hamilton Spectator newspaper for many years.
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[edit] Early life and career
MacDonald was born 1927 in London, Ontario. MacDonald was a contractor in private life and owned a trucking business. He was first elected to Hamilton city council in 1950 at age 22, making him the youngest alderman in the city's history. He won election as a city controller two years later and served for six terms in that office, losing to Victor Copps in 1962 (Globe and Mail, 8 August 1984 and Toronto Star, 6 March 1988).
He was elected mayor over Vince Agro in 1976 after Copps, the popular incumbent, was incapacitated by a heart attack.
[edit] Mayor of Hamilton
MacDonald was a colourful figure in office, and endorsed several large development projects for the city. In 1978, he led city council to accept a multi-million dollar plan for an office tower and convention centre in downtown Hamilton (Globe and Mail, 23 March 1978). The centre, which became known as the Jackson Square Mall, was formally endorsed by the provincial government later in the year (G&M, 21 July 1978). He also endorsed a pledge by the federal government to assist in construction of a National Hockey League-sized arena for the city in 1979 (G&M, 3 February 1979), and argued that Hamilton deserved a team in the next NHL expansion (G&M, 14 April 1979). In 1980, the city approved an eighty-million dollar plan for a football stadium and arena (G&M, 1 October 1980).
In 1979, he approved a freeway construction project which eventually became known as the Red Hill Creek Expressway. MacDonald himself owned a house on the Red Hill Valley, where the highway corridor was slated to run. He was quoted as saying, "I would prefer it in somebody else's backyard but I've got a greater responsibility than that" (G&M, 2 July 1979). In 1980, he supported plans by the Hamilton Harbor Commissioners to build for an industrial area on the city's Beach Strip (G&M, 23 November 1979). He also encouraged airport expansion and upgrades to the city's transit system.
He was an early supporter of one-tier government for the Hamilton region, and in May 1978 supported a provincial commission report which called for Hamilton to be amalgamated with neighbouring municipalities. This plan was opposed by many in the municipalities, who worried that the city would burde them with financial costs and overwhelm their local identities (G&M, 11 May 1978). The provincial government rejected the one-tier recommendation and MacDonald, in protest, insisted that the province pay the full cost of the commission report (G&M, 17 June 1978).
MacDonald endorsed property tax assessment reform in 1978, noting that the city had lost $1.5 million in appeals the previous year (G&M, 31 August 1978). Conservative in matters of perceived government interference, he opposed plans for mandatory smoke detectors in Hamilton apartments (G&M, 11 October 1979) and was openly contemptuous of the city's anti-smoking by-law (G&M, 2 October 1980).
With no strong opposition candidates, MacDonald was easily re-elected mayor in November 1978. He was unexpectedly defeated in 1980, losing to a 73-year old retired steelworker named William Powell who was unknown before the election. The Globe and Mail newspaper described the result as a "major upset" (11 November 1990). Powell won the election by promising integrity in government and by criticizing MacDonald as arrogant and uncompromising, describing him as "a good salesman but a poor manager" (G&M, 6 November 1980). MacDonald launched a strong bid for re-election in 1982, but lost to Robert Morrow (G&M, 9 November 1982).
It has been reported that MacDonald reached an agreement with Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard near the end of his mandate, to bring the Colorado Rockies hockey franchise to Hamilton in 1982. His successor is said to have rejected the arrangement, causing the plan to fall through (Toronto Star 12 April 1990). Some have questioned this interpretation of events.
[edit] Federal politics
Befitting his name, MacDonald was a strong supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party at the federal level. He supported Paul Hellyer's bid for the party leadership in 1976 (Spectator, 24 May 2000), although he also became an admirer of Joe Clark's abilities during the same campaign. During his tenure as mayor, he once presented Clark with a novelty "Trudeau pencil", mocking Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The pencil had an eraser on both ends, and no point (G&M, 27 April 1978). In 1979, he was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of former prime minister John Diefenbaker (G&M, 18 August 1979).
He campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1984 federal election, running for the Progressive Conservative Party in Hamilton East. The PCs did not have a strong support base in this region, and he finished third (with 30.5%) against Liberal candidate Sheila Copps and New Democrat Dave Christopherson. This loss effectively ended his career as a politician. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government under Brian Mulroney, and MacDonald was appointed to the federal parole board (Toronto Star, 20 March 1986).
[edit] Journalist
MacDonald wrote on political matters for the Hamilton Spectator throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s. He continued to support plans for the Red Hill Creek Expressway (Spectator, 25 October 1991) and regional amalgamation (Spectator, 10 April 1996), and frequently wrote in support of mayor Bob Morrow and regional chair Terry Cooke. In 2000, he supported Bob Wade over Morrow for mayor (Spectator, 30 October 2000).
He remained a supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party at the federal level, and wrote pieces supporting party leader Jean Charest while criticizing the rival right-wing Reform Party of Preston Manning (Spectator, 19 June 1996 and 7 May 1997). He voted for Joe Clark to return as Progressive Conservative leader in 1999, although he also argued that both Clark and Manning would need to leave the federal scene for a united conservative party to emerge (Spectator, 3 March 1999).
MacDonald supported the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris at the provincial level, although he also wrote a piece strongly critical of the government just prior to the 1999 provincial election. MacDonald argued that Harris "betrayed" Hamilton-Wentworth by refusing to impose one-tier government, and openly speculated about voting against the Progressive Conservatives for the first time in his life (Spectator, 2 June 1999). He was later reconciled with the government, and argued that Mike Harris was the logical choice to lead a united federal conservative party (Spectator, 13 August 2002).
He retired from the Spectator in late 2002.
[edit] Since 2002
MacDonald supported Larry Di Ianni's bid to become mayor of Hamilton (Spectator, 7 November 2003), and became involved with the new Conservative Party of Canada in early 2004. There was speculation throughout 2004 that the Red Hill Creek Expressway would be renamed after MacDonald, but this proposal was defeated by council in 2005 (Spectator, 4 May 2005). He underwent open heart surgery in September 2004 (Spectator, 21 September 2004).
When asked about his legacy after being discharged from hospital, he said, "There are very, very few people who are neutral about Jack MacDonald, and I like it that way" (Spectator, 29 October 2004).
| Preceded by Vince Agro |
Mayor of Hamilton 1977–1980 |
Succeeded by William Powell |
