Angus Lewis Macdonald

The Honourable Angus Lewis Macdonald PC QC
Macdonald in the 1940s
12th and 14th Premier of Nova Scotia
In office September 5, 1933 – July 10, 1940
Monarchs	George V Edward VIII George VI
Lieutenant Governor	Walter Harold Covert Robert Irwin Frederick F. Mathers
Preceded by	Gordon S. Harrington
Succeeded by	Alexander S. MacMillan
In office September 8, 1945 – April 13, 1954
Monarchs	George VI Elizabeth II
Lieutenant Governor	Henry Ernest Kendall J.A.D. McCurdy Alistair Fraser
Preceded by	Alexander S. MacMillan
Succeeded by	Harold Connolly
MLA for Halifax South
In office August 22, 1933 – July 10, 1940
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Joseph R. Murphy
In office October 23, 1945 – April 13, 1954
Preceded by	Joseph R. Murphy
Succeeded by	Richard Donahoe
MP for Kingston City
In office August 12, 1940 – June 11, 1945
Preceded by	Norman McLeod Rogers
Succeeded by	Thomas Kidd
Personal details
Born	(1890-08-10)August 10, 1890 Dunvegan, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died	April 13, 1954(1954-04-13) (aged 63) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Agnes Foley Macdonald
Children	4
Alma mater	St. Francis Xavier University
Military service
Branch/service	Canadian Expeditionary Force
Rank	Lieutenant

Angus Lewis Macdonald PC QC (August 10, 1890 – April 13, 1954), popularly known as 'Angus L.', was a Canadian lawyer, law professor and politician from Nova Scotia. He served as the Liberal premier of Nova Scotia from 1933 to 1940, when he became the federal minister of defence for naval services. He oversaw the creation of an effective Canadian navy and Allied convoy service during World War II.^[1] After the war, he returned to Nova Scotia to become premier again. In the election of 1945, his Liberals returned to power while their main rivals, the Conservatives, failed to win a single seat. The Liberal rallying cry, "All's Well With Angus L.," was so effective that the Conservatives despaired of ever beating Macdonald.^[2] He died in office in 1954.

Macdonald's more than 15 years as premier brought fundamental changes. Under his leadership, the Nova Scotia government spent more than $100 million paving roads, building bridges, extending electrical transmission lines and improving public education. Macdonald dealt with the mass unemployment of the Great Depression by putting the jobless to work on highway projects. He felt direct government relief payments would weaken moral character, undermine self-respect and discourage personal initiative.^[3] However, he also faced the reality that the financially strapped Nova Scotia government could not afford to participate fully in federal relief programs that required matching contributions from the provinces.^[4]

Macdonald was considered one of his province's most eloquent political orators.^[5] He articulated a philosophy of provincial autonomy, arguing that poorer provinces needed a greater share of national tax revenues to pay for health, education and welfare.^[6] He contended that Nova Scotians were victims of a national policy that protected the industries of Ontario and Quebec with steep tariffs forcing people to pay higher prices for manufactured goods. It was no accident, Macdonald said, that Nova Scotia had gone from the richest province per capita before Canadian Confederation in 1867 to poorest by the 1930s.^[7]

Macdonald was a classical liberal in the 19th-century tradition of John Stuart Mill. He believed in individual freedom and responsibility and feared that the growth of government bureaucracy would threaten liberty.^[8] For him, the role of the state was to provide basic services. He supported public ownership of utilities like the Nova Scotia Power Commission, but rejected calls for more interventionist policies such as government ownership of key industries or big loans to private companies.^[9]