Kevin Stewart MacLeod (born 1951) is a former Canadian Secretary to the Queen of Canada, former

Usher of the Black Rod Black Rod (officially known as the Lady Usher of the Black Rod or, if male, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliam ...

for the

Canadian Senate The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the Br ...

, and the author of the historical fiction novel, ''A Stone on Their Cairn / Clach air An Càrn''. Born in

North Sydney, Nova Scotia North Sydney (Scottish Gaelic: ''Suidni A Tuath'' or ''Am Bàr'') is a former town and current community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Located on the north side of Sydney Harbour, along the eastern coast of Cape Breton ...

, MacLeod studied at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

and

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

, where he received both his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in history and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in international affairs, before moving on to the

University of Burgundy The University of Burgundy (french: Université de Bourgogne, uB; formerly known as ''Université de Dijon'') is a public university located in Dijon, France. The University of Burgundy is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the east ...

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. After his return from there, MacLeod served for 10 years as an administrative assistant in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

, subsequently acting as a chief of staff for one of the then ministers of the Crown before being employed by the

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...

for 22 years. Among his accomplishments in that office, MacLeod was appointed as the Chief of Protocol and then authored ''A Crown of Maples / La Couronne canadienne''an educational book on the

Canadian monarchy The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the founda ...

, published by the heritage department. It is the responsibility of the Department of Canadian Heritage to organize royal tours of Canada, and it was for that in 1987 of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

that MacLeod first had a part in coordinating such an event. By the time of the Queen's 2005 visit to the prairies to celebrate the centennials of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

's and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

's entry into

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...

, MacLeod was given the role of Acting Secretary to the Queen. For his service to the monarch, he had already been in 1992 appointed as a member of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

, and in 2002, the year of Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. But it was during the 2005 tour that MacLeod was elevated by the Queen in person to the highest position a Canadian can hold in the order (due to the government's adherence to the

Nickle Resolution The Canadian titles debate originated with the presentation to the House of Commons of Canada of the Nickle Resolution in 1917. This resolution marked the earliest attempt to establish a Government of Canada policy requesting the sovereign, in the ...

), that of commander; this made MacLeod the only Canadian to be promoted through all three levels of the order in Canada. On March 27, 2008, MacLeod was appointed by order of the

Governor-in-Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of a ...

as the

for the Senate, replacing Terrance Christopher. On April 1, 2009, MacLeod was further appointed as the full-time Canadian Secretary to the Queen, putting him in charge of, amongst other things, coordinating royal tours of Canada and chairing the Diamond Jubilee Committee (to organize the celebrations in 2012 for the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession as

Queen of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...

). He was responsible for the visit of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Canada in November 2009, and he was responsible for co-ordinating the Queen's 24th official visit to Canada in 2010. In 2010, MacLeod was appointed by the Prime Minister to the

Governor General Consultation Committee A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of politica ...

, a special committee to recommend a successor to

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...

. The panel recommended

David Lloyd Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commiss ...

, who was installed as viceroy on October 1, 2010. MacLeod retired from his post as the Usher in 2013.Debates of the Senate (Hansard)
/ref> MacLeod retired from his post as Canadian Secretary to the Queen, and from the public service, on February 10, 2017.

Medal entitlement

Kevin S. MacLeod is entitled to the following medals.

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

References

External links

Personal website of Kevin MacLeod
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, Kevin 1951 births Living people Canadian civil servants Carleton University alumni People from North Sydney, Nova Scotia Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order