Murdoch Mackay (April 30, 1884 – 1963
) was a
Manitoba politician. He led the
Manitoba Liberal Party from 1931 to 1932, and brought the party into an alliance with
John Bracken's
Progressives.
Mackay was born on
Boularderie Island,
Nova Scotia,
the son of John Mackay and Anna MacAulay. He subsequently moved to Manitoba,
and was elected to the provincial legislature in the general election of 1927. A Liberal, Mackay defeated
Progressive
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* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
incumbent
Clifford Barclay by 18 votes in the riding of
Springfield
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.
The provincial Liberals fared poorly in this election, winning only seven seats in a 55-member legislature. Party leader
Hugh Robson stepped down in 1930. After a brief period in which
James Breakey
James Washington Breakey (December 25, 1865 in Port Hope, Canada West (now Ontario) – February 27, 1952), was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was briefly the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, and was subsequently a supporter of th ...
led the parliamentary caucus, Mackay was chosen
over Fred C. Hamilton as party leader in 1931.
MacKay brought the Manitoba Liberals into an alliance with the governing Progressives in 1932.
By this time, the Liberals and Progressives of Manitoba were already co-operating at the federal level; national
Liberal leader
William Lyon Mackenzie King wanted the same alliance at the provincial level to prevent a
Conservative victory in the next election. The Liberals joined the government in early 1932, and two members of the party were brought into cabinet. Mackay himself was made a Minister without Portfolio on May 27, 1932.
His term in office was brief. The united "Liberal-Progressives" easily defeated the Conservatives in the election, but Mackay was defeated by Barclay (now running as an "Independent Farmer-Labour" candidate) in Springfield. He resigned from cabinet, and left provincial politics. Mackay attempted a comeback in 1945, but lost to
CCF
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Finance
* Credit conversion factor converts the a ...
candidate
George Olive by over one thousand votes.
As well as being a politician, MacKay was known by many as a prominent local physician in the town of
Transcona,
with a reputation for kindness and a great sense of humour. He graduated from Manitoba Medical School in 1916 and married Ruby Gowland the following year. They had four daughters who all graduated from the
University of Manitoba.
Throughout his career, MacKay was well known for his compassion - accepting food from patients that could not afford to pay upfront. He remains a community hero and his commitment to the Transcona area was honoured in his 2005 nomination as "The Greatest Transconian". MacKay had a great love of learning and, as such,
Murdoch MacKay Collegiate, a high school in
Winnipeg, was named in his honour
in 1964, one year after his death.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Murdoch
1884 births
1963 deaths
Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs