Duncan Kenneth MacTavish (August 3, 1899 – November 15, 1963) was a Canadian Senator. MacTavish was a millionaire and one of Canada's leading corporate lawyers."Still Seek Reason for Crash in which Senator MacTavish Died", ''Globe and Mail'', November 18, 1963 He was a chief Liberal Party strategist and fundraiser and was an advisor to three Liberal Prime Ministers -

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

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 ...

and

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

and had also known Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...

, a friend of his father, as a youth."Senator MacTavish in politics 40 years", ''Toronto Star'', November 16, 1963 His father was Judge Duncan Byron MacTavish. He was educated in Ottawa and at Queen's University 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 ...

before being admitted to the bar in 1926. In 1940, he married Janet Southam, daughter of ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' publisher

Harry Stevenson Southam Harry Stevenson Southam, CMG (May 18, 1875 – March 27, 1954) was a Canadian newspaper publisher of ''The Ottawa Citizen'' and chancellor of Carleton College from 1952 to 1954. He was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Nati ...

and a member of the Southam family. He began advising Mackenzie King during election campaigns in the 1920s and was named as

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...

of the late prime minister's estate. He was president of the

National Liberal Federation The National Liberal Federation (1877–1936) was the union of all English and Welsh (but not Scottish) Liberal Associations. It held an annual conference which was regarded as being representative of the opinion of the party's rank and file and ...

from 1952 to 1958 and had been a top Liberal campaign strategist for nearly 40 years at the time of his death. He was killed in an automobile collision on the

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Pea ...

when returning home from the opening of the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. MacTavish was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

in June 1963 by Prime Minister Pearson and served in the Senate for five months until the fatal accident. He was a senior partner in the Ottawa firm of Gowling, MacTavish, Osborne and Henderson and was an officer of 34 corporations as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of Queen's University. During World War II he served as deputy Judge Advocate General of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

with the rank of captain. In the early 1950s he served as chairman of the Federal District Commission (the precursor of the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; , CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), including administering most lands and build ...

) which was responsible for creating what became the National Capital Region.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacTavish, Duncan 1899 births 1963 deaths Canadian political consultants Canadian senators from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada senators Lawyers in Ontario 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada