Angus Lewis Macdonald
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Angus Lewis Macdonald (August 10, 1890 - April 13 1954) was a Nova Scotia lawyer, politician and professor. He served as premier of Nova Scotia from 1933 to 1940 and from 1945 to 1954.
Macdonald was a professor at Dalhousie Law School from 1924 to 1930 when he was elected leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party and led the party to victory in the 1933 election. The governing Conservatives had tried to reassure their election by reducing the number of seats in the legislature and giving the government greater control over the voter's list resulting in the disenfranchisement of many Liberal voters. The Liberals took the matter to court allowing the disenfranchised voters to put themselves back on the list. The ensuing political scandal, compounded by suffering in the province due to the Great Depression, resulted in a resounding victory for Macdonald's Liberals.
In order to fight the Great Depression the Liberal government brought in unemployment relief and old age pensions. His government also passed a labour law giving workers the rights to form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining. The Macdonald government also engaged in a large scale highway building initiative to create jobs. The Liberals were re-elected in 1937.
With Canada's involvement in World War II, Macdonald was asked to join the Canadian cabinet of William Lyon Mackenzie King as minister of defence for naval services. Macdonald won a seat representing Kingston, Ontario in the Canadian House of Commons by acclamation. Macdonald was responsible for the wartime expansion of the Royal Canadian Navy. He differed with King in the Conscription Crisis of 1944 favouring an unequivocal implementation of the draft and resigned from the federal cabinet in April 1945 to return to Nova Scotia where he again became leader of the Liberal Party and Premier leading the party to its greatest election victory shutting out the Tories and electing a two person CCF opposition.
Macdonald's second government created the province's first department of education, built a bridge to link Halifax and Dartmouth as well as a link between Cape Breton and the mainland.
The Tories made gains in the 1953 election but the Liberals were re-elected. Macdonald's health was declining, however, and he died in office on April 13, 1954 after suffering a heart attack. The Angus L. MacDonald Bridge in Halifax harbour is named in his honour.
| Preceded by: Gordon S. Harrington | Premier of Nova Scotia 1933-1940 | Succeeded by: Alexander S. MacMillan |
| Preceded by: Alexander S. MacMillan | Premier of Nova Scotia 1945-1954 | Succeeded by: Harold Connolly |