David Charles Dingwall (born June 29, 1952) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

administrator, former

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minister and

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. He is the president of

Cape Breton University Cape Breton University (CBU) is a public university located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only post-secondary degree-granting institution within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and on Cape Breton Island. The university is enabl ...

Political career

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by training, Dingwall was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the

1980 Canadian federal election The 1980 Canadian federal election was held on February 18, 1980, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 32nd Canadian Parliament, 32nd Parliament of Canada. It was called when the budget of the minority government, minority Pr ...

as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Breton—East Richmond in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. He was re-elected in three subsequent elections, and served as Opposition House Leader from 1991 to 1993.

In Cabinet

After the Liberals won the 1993 Canadian election under Jean Chrétien, Dingwall was appointed to Cabinet as the Minister of Public Works and Minister of Supply and Services, Minister responsible for

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, Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing, Minister responsible for the

Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint () is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under an act of parliament referred to as the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The mi ...

, Minister responsible for Defence Construction Limited, and the Minister responsible for the

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency In Canada, the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) are the seven federal government agencies responsible for addressing key economic challenges and furthering economic development, diversification, and job creation specific to their respective re ...

. Dingwall also served on several cabinet committees, including the Treasury Board and Economic Development. In 1996, Dingwall convinced the then prime minister of Canada to host the G7 Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Leaders from the G7 convened in Halifax and

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

, the president of Russia was a special attendee at that session. In 1996, Dingwall was appointed Minister of Health. In 1997, Dingwall passed the Tobacco Control Act, which at the time was the toughest tobacco legislation in the world. He was subsequently honoured by the

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and the

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1997 election

Dingwall ran for re-election in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

in the newly created riding of Bras d'Or, losing by over 1,000 votes to Michelle Dockrill of the NDP.

After politics

Following his defeat in

, Dingwall was given an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University College of Cape Breton, recipient of the Connaught Award presented by the Canadian Lung Association. Dingwall served as president of Wallding International, a government relations firm and served on several corporate board of directors, including, Rogers Sugar Income Fund, MD Life, advisory board, State Street Global Advisors Inc., director of Webstandard Inc., and director of Journeys End Car Rental Limited.

Royal Canadian Mint

On February 27, 2003, the Government of Canada appointed Dingwall to the position of president and chief executive officer of the Royal Canadian Mint. His leadership led that organization to increase profitability and posting its first surplus in several years. In the fall of 2005, Dingwall came under scrutiny for having allegedly made excessive expense claims while he was president of the Royal Canadian Mint. In the midst of these allegations, Dingwall resigned from the Mint on September 28, 2005. When questioned while giving testimony before Parliament as to why he felt he should receive a severance package after the voluntary resignation, he remarked "I'm entitled to my entitlements." The statement would be used by the

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in a

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during the 2006 federal election that featured that part of Dingwall's testimony. On leaving the Royal Canadian Mint, Dingwall called for an independent audit which was completed by

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

who found "the expenses fell within the guidelines". A second independent review by the law firm of Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt found that the Mint's process for monitoring expenses were stricter than those of most private corporations. On or about February 4, 2006, retired Superior Court Justice George Adams found that the Government of Canada essentially forced Dingwall out when he released his findings in a binding arbitration ruling.

Legal career

Dingwall is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; ), its name was changed by statu ...

. He was associated with the law firm of Sampson McDougall in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and now he is counsel to the law firm of Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP.

Academic career

For the 2011–2012 academic year, Dingwall was a distinguished visiting professor at the

Ted Rogers School of Management Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

at Ryerson University.

Community involvement

Dingwall is a member of the board of directors of the Canada/China Business Council, a founding member of the Toronto Arbitrators’ Society, president of the Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation.

As President of Cape Breton University

On January 31, 2018, Dingwall was appointed president and vice-chancellor of

by the university's board of governors.

Electoral results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dingwall, David 1952 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Lawyers in Nova Scotia Corporate scandals Canadian people of Scottish descent Politicians from Sydney, Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mint presidents Ministers of health of Canada Ministers of health and welfare of Canada 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada