Donald Methuen Fleming, (May 23, 1905 – December 31, 1986) was a Canadian parliamentarian,

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

official and lawyer, born in

Exeter, Ontario Exeter is a community in the municipality of South Huron, in the southern portion of Huron County, Ontario, Canada, located approximately 40 kilometres north of London. The community proclaims itself the "Home of the White Squirrel", owing ...

, Canada.

Biography

Fleming was born in

, in 1905. He was educated at the

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

and

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

. He was first elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

in the 1945 general election as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

riding of Eglinton. In 1948, he was a candidate in that year's Progressive Conservative leadership convention, losing to George Drew. He ran for the leadership again in the 1956 leadership convention, losing to

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

. The Speaker expelled Fleming from the House of Commons during the 1956

Pipeline Debate The Pipeline Debate (May 8 – June 6, 1956) was a political event in the history of the Parliament of Canada. The debate was on the finances of the TransCanada pipeline, proper parliamentary procedure, and American economic influence on Can ...

that helped lead to the defeat of the Liberal government of

Louis St. Laurent Louis Stephen St. Laurent (; February 1, 1882 – July 25, 1973) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957. Born and raised in southeastern Quebec, St. Laurent was a leading la ...

in the 1957 general election. Diefenbaker became the new prime minister and appointed Fleming to the cabinet as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. As finance minister, Fleming clashed with the governor of the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

, James Coyne, over

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to affect monetary and other financial conditions to accomplish broader objectives like high employment and price stability (normally interpreted as a low and stable rat ...

and ultimately demanded and got Coyne's resignation in 1961. In 1962, Fleming became the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of Canada before retiring from politics in 1963. Fleming returned to politics to seek the PC Party leadership at the 1967 leadership convention for a third time, but came in seventh, and left political life for good. In later life, he was Governor of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, an International Monetary Fund official and Chairman of the

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five banks, it is the third-largest Canadian bank by deposits and ...

Personal life

Fleming married Alice Watson in 1933, and they had three children. He was a devout Christian, and was an elder of the Bloor Street United Church in Toronto. Fleming died in Toronto from a stroke on December 31, 1986, at the age of 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Donald Methuen 1905 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Canadian lawyers 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Ministers of finance of Canada Lawyers in Ontario Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the United Church of Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates

Biography

Personal life

Archives

References

External links