Donald MacKay Deacon, OC, O.PEI, MC (1920–2003) was a Canadian politician, businessman and volunteer.
Deacon was born and raised in a family of ten children in Toronto, Ontario. In 1942, he volunteered to serve in the Royal Canadian Artillery during World War II, rising to the rank of Captain. Deacon, a Forward Observation Officer, traveled with front line infantry in order to direct artillery fire via radio transmission. He was mentioned in dispatches as his Battery fought its way across France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany. He was awarded the Military Cross for risking his life to save soldiers under fire when his radio failed.
Following the war, Deacon married Florence Campbell and they moved to a farm outside of Unionville, Ontario where they raised a family of six. Deacon was elected to the town council of Markham, Ontario and was appointed to the position of deputy reeve. He was one of the founders of Markham Stouffville Hospital. He spent most of his working career in business in the financial sector serving as chair of F.H. Deacon Hodgson Ltd and also served as president of the Canadian Club of Toronto from 1968 to 1969.
Deacon was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the 1967 provincial election. He was re-elected in the 1971 election and represented the Toronto area riding of York Centre until he resigned from the legislature in March 1974.
In 1973, Deacon ran for the Ontario Liberal leadership when Robert Nixon indicated he was stepping aside. Nixon changed his mind, and was re-elected leader with Deacon finishing in third place behind Nixon and Norman Cafik. When his friend and political colleague Barney Danson was appointed Minister of Defence, Deacon worked with Danson and Jacques Hébert to create Katimavik, a national service program designed to enable unemployed youth help others and themselves at the same time.
Florence and Donald Deacon moved to Prince Edward Island in 1981, where he was the founder and chair of Atlantic Canada's first venture capital fund, Atlantic Ventures Trust. He also continued his passion as an active volunteer, becoming president of the PEI Red Cross, national commissioner for Scouts Canada, and founding president of Rail-to-Trails PEI. He chaired the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, served as a member of the board of Mount Allison University (the alma mater of his grandfather Henry Emmerson), and was an early and active member of the Trans Canada Trail board of directors.
In 1987, he was made a member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to officer in 2003.
In 2003, he was presented with the Order of Prince Edward Island.
Exactly one week prior to his death in September 2003, Deacon was interviewed by Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada. It was the first in her series about Order of Canada recipients. During the moving interview, which Rogers often replayed as one of her favorites, Deacon recounted a conversation he had with a close friend in the final days of World War II. They were waiting as the infantry cleared out a machine gun nest along the road ahead and asked one another what they could do to prevent a recurrence of the horrible waste of life they had just survived. The two men agreed that all they could do was to go home, raise a family of caring individuals, contribute to the lives of others in their communities, and encourage everyone to travel the world so they could experience and gain respect for other cultures and people. Their conversation ended when they were given the all clear. Deacon's friend climbed back into his Scout car, proceeded down the road and was killed instantly as he passed over an anti-tank mine. The war ended two days later. Deacon carried that conversation with him throughout his life.