Michael Holcombe Wilson (November 4, 1937 – February 10, 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman, politician and diplomat who served as

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1984 to 1991 and minister of international trade from 1991 to 1993 under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Brian Mulroney. Wilson was a

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stre ...

investment executive when he was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

. He then unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

before being appointed to Prime Minister Mulroney's cabinet. As a cabinet minister, Wilson introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and helped negotiate the

Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), official name as the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States of America (french: links=no, Accord de libre-échange entre le Canada et les États-Unis d'Amérique), wa ...

and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Wilson retired from politics in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

and returned back to Bay Street, heading his own consulting and financial services firm. Wilson served as the Chairman of Barclays Capital Canada Inc. from May 2010 until his death in February 2019. He was the Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2006 until 2009 and the Chancellor of the University of Toronto from 2012 to 2018.

Early life

Born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Wilson was the son of Constance L. (Davies) and Harry Holcombe Wilson. Wilson attended

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

and then

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, where he joined the

Kappa Alpha Society The Kappa Alpha Society (), founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It is considered to be the oldest national, secret, Greek-letter social fraternity and was the first of the fraternities which would ...

Political career

Wilson was a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He dropped off after the first ballot and urged his supporters to vote for Brian Mulroney, the eventual winner. Mulroney appointed Wilson as

when the party formed a government after the 1984 election. Wilson reformed the tax system to broaden the tax base and lower tax rates, removing many special tax provisions, and helped negotiate the

. He also announced the Goods and Services Tax in his 1989 budget. Introduced in 1990, the tax which is still in place today and is considered a necessary source of federal income, despite being unpopular with consumers. In 1991, after seven years as Minister of Finance, Wilson became

Minister of Industry, Science and Technology The minister of innovation, science, and industry (french: ministre de l'Innovation, des Sciences et de l'Industrie) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the economic development and corporat ...

and Minister of International Trade. In that role, he participated in negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Post-politics

Wilson was not a candidate in the 1993 election, and he returned to

to head his own consulting and financial services firm. He later rejoined Royal Bank of Canada, and he was Chairman and CEO of RT Capital when that business was sold to

UBS AG UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swis ...

. Wilson served as Chairman of UBS Canada from 2001 to 2006. In recent years, he was a spokesman for a lobby group promoting

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Adminis ...

s, and he was the Chairman of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance. From 2003 to 2007, Wilson served as the Chancellor of

. In July 2012, he became the Chancellor of the

, and he was re-elected to an additional three-year term in 2015. Wilson was a mental health advocate, having lost a son to depression and suicide. Wilson established the Cameron Parker Holcombe Wilson Chair in Depression Studies at the University of Toronto. He also sat on the board of directors for the

Mental Health Commission of Canada The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is a national non-profit organization created by the Canadian government in 2007 in response to a senate committee tasked to study mental health, mental illness, and addiction. The committee appointed ...

. Wilson was active in many other organizations, including the NeuroScience Canada Partnership, the

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, pronounced , french: Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale) is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It re ...

, the

Canadian Cancer Society The Canadian Cancer Society (french: Société canadienne du cancer) is Canada's largest national cancer charity and the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada. History The idea to form the Canadian Cancer Society origin ...

, the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships, the

Loran Scholars Foundation Founded in Toronto in 1988, the Loran Scholars Foundation is a national charitable organization awarding scholarships for students entering university in Canada. Loran Scholars receive the country's largest undergraduate merit award on the basis o ...

, the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance and the

Canadian Institutes of Health Research The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; french: Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the M ...

. On 30 October 2003, Wilson was appointed as an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2010. On 9 April 2015, it was announced that Wilson was appointed as the new board chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. He was also a member of the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

Ambassador to the United States

Ambassador Michael Wilson with Chairman Dan Burton

On 16 February 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the nomination of Wilson as Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America. He succeeded

Frank McKenna Francis Joseph McKenna (born January 19, 1948) is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006 ...

in Washington, D.C. Wilson became the 22nd Canadian Ambassador to the United States on 13 March 2006, when U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

accepted his credentials.

Allegation of leaks during 2008 Democratic presidential campaign

In March 2008, it was alleged that Wilson told the Canadian media that U.S. presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

was not serious about his promise to opt out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Navdeep Bains Navdeep Singh Bains (born June 16, 1977) is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he represented the riding of Mississauga—Malton in the House of Co ...

called on Wilson to step down as Canada's ambassador to Washington while the alleged leaks were investigated. Wilson publicly acknowledged that he spoke to then-CTV reporter Tom Clark, who first reported the leaks, before the story aired, but he refused to discuss what was said.

Personal life

Wilson was married to Margie Wilson and was predeceased by son Cameron, who suffered from depression and died by suicide in 1995. Following his son's death, Wilson devoted considerable time to advocate for mental health. The couple had two other children: son Geoff Wilson and daughter Lara O'Brien, both of whom married and have children. Wilson died from cancer on February 10, 2019.

Electoral record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Michael 1937 births 2019 deaths Canadian Ministers of Finance Ambassadors of Canada to the United States Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the 21st Canadian Ministry Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Alumni of the London School of Economics Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada University of Toronto alumni Upper Canada College alumni Trinity College (Canada) alumni Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian Anglicans Canadian university and college chancellors Chancellors of the University of Toronto Companions of the Order of Canada Politicians from Toronto UBS people Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates Mental health activists