Donald William Cameron
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Donald William Cameron (May 20, 1946May 3, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd
premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of t ...
from February 1991 to June 1993. He represented the electoral district of Pictou East in the
Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (; ), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature. The assembly is ...
from 1974 to 1993, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. Following his political career, he was appointed the Canadian
Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...
to New England.


Early life and education

Cameron was born in Egerton, Nova Scotia, on May 20, 1946. His parents were Helen and William David Cameron, and he was raised on their family farm. He graduated from
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in 1968.


Political career

Cameron entered provincial politics in the 1974 election, defeating Liberal Lester MacLellan by 272 votes in the Pictou East riding. He was re-elected in the 1978 election by almost 2,000 votes. On October 5, 1978, Cameron was appointed to the
Executive Council of Nova Scotia The Executive Council of Nova Scotia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Nova Scotia) is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Almost always made up of members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the cabinet is s ...
as Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Recreation. He resigned from cabinet on June 25, 1980. He was re-elected in the
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
and 1984 elections. On April 20, 1988, Cameron was reappointed to cabinet as Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology. Cameron was re-elected in the 1988 election, defeating Liberal Wayne Fraser by 753 votes. In September 1990, John Buchanan resigned as premier, and a leadership convention was scheduled for February 1991. On November 2, 1990, Cameron announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. At the leadership convention, on February 9, 1991, Cameron led through the first two ballots and defeated Roland J. Thornhill by 143 votes on the third ballot to win the leadership. He was sworn in as the 22nd premier of Nova Scotia on February 26.


Premier of Nova Scotia

Cameron's administration was known for a smaller cabinet, supporting anti-discrimination measures, and amending the
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
act to extend protection to gays and lesbians. His government also
privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, the largest privatization move in Canada at the time. Cameron also introduced merit-based hiring codes, signed on to the
Atlantic Procurement Agreement The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
and introduced mandatory testing in grades 3, 6, 9 and 12 with public release of test scores. Cameron's government established a nonpartisan electoral boundaries revision commission in an attempt to end
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
. Cameron began the practice of non-political appointment of judges, deregulation of gasoline prices and made investments in double-stack rail service from the Port of Halifax (benefitting the TrentonWorks rail car plant in his riding) as well as four-lane highways. His efforts in ending party patronage marked a change in politics in Nova Scotia that his successors – John Savage and
John Hamm John Frederick Hamm (born April 8, 1938) is a Canadian physician and politician, who served as the 25th premier of Nova Scotia from 1999 to 2006. Education Hamm, a graduate of the University of King's College and Dalhousie University, was a ...
– were able to continue, making appointments more transparent. Cameron was noted as a vocal supporter of a development project that turned deadly. He was instrumental, first as a local MLA, then as industry minister in the government of John Buchanan, and then as premier, in the development of the Westray Mine in
Pictou County, Nova Scotia Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Further ...
. Many expressed concern in the provincial media for the safety of workers in such a mine. While coal mining typically releases explosive
methane gas Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...
, the location of the mine was in an area of Pictou County that had an unusually high level of methane. However, despite the opposition from federal bureaucrats, opposition politicians and the Cape Breton Development Corporation (Devco), a federal crown agency responsible for coal mining in Cape Breton, Westray Mine was developed through the late eighties and opened in 1991 with significant provincial and federal government assistance. Subsequently, a methane gas explosion killed 26 miners on May 9, 1992. Cameron's government is also remembered for continuing the Buchanan policy in supporting development of the controversial Point Aconi Generating Station project. In the 1993 election, Cameron won personal re-election in his Pictou East riding, but his government was defeated in a landslide by the
Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party (officially the Liberal Association of Nova Scotia) is a Centrist politics, centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently hol ...
under John Savage. On election night, Cameron announced his resignation as both party leader and MLA for Pictou East.


Personal life

Cameron married Rosemary Simpson in 1969. They met while studying at McGill. Together, they had three children: Natalie, David, and Christine. Cameron died at Aberdeen Hospital in
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait. The town's population was 9,471 ...
on May 3, 2021, at the age of 74.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Donald 1946 births 2021 deaths Consuls for Canada McGill University alumni Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Agricultural College alumni Politicians from Pictou County Premiers of Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Nova Scotia political party leaders 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly