L. (Lawrence) Ian MacDonald (born 1947) 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 ...

writer, columnist, broadcaster, public speaker, and diplomat."Politics & Players"
/ref>"... And Now ... L. Ian MacDonald’s snapshot of history in the making"
The Métropolitain, January 7, 2010, Vol. 3, No 5, Politics People and Potpourri. In his career he has written speeches for

Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

as his primary speechwriter, written the Queen's Canadian speeches, and worked as head of communications (Minister of Public Affairs) at the

Canadian Embassy Canada has an extensive diplomatic network maintained by Global Affairs Canada. This listing does not include trade missions and honorary consulates. Overview As a Commonwealth country, Canada's diplomatic missions in the capitals of other Co ...

in Washington, D.C., in the United States. He has also been a columnist for the ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' (as national affairs columnist), and the now-defunct ''

Montreal Daily News The ''Montreal Daily News'' was a short-lived English language Canadian daily newspaper in Quebec. Quebecor founder Pierre Péladeau and British tabloid publisher Robert Maxwell teamed up to launch a competing English-language newspaper against ...

''. He was editor-in-chief of ''Policy Options'', his political column appears on ''

iPolitics ''iPolitics'' is a Canadian digital newspaper, which covers stories in Canadian politics. The site was launched in 2010 by James Baxter, and offers daily coverage of political news, a quarterly print magazine, political analysis podcasts, and spec ...

'', and he is a frequent commentator on CPAC (the Cable Public Affairs Channel) and CTV (the CTV Television Network). He has also written a number of books.

Biography

Early life

His mother was Marian MacDonald, and his father, Arthur, was an engineer who died of a heart attack in 1958 when Ian was 10 years old. MacDonald graduated from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

(Loyola) (L BA '69; honors political science). He lives in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. He was inducted in the Concordia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 as equipment manager of the Loyola College Warriors 1968 hockey team.

Career

From 1985 to 1988, for four years MacDonald wrote speeches for

as his primary speechwriter, and for years wrote the Queen's Canadian speeches. From 1992 to 1994 he worked as head of communications (Minister of Public Affairs) at the

in Washington, D.C., in the United States. MacDonald has been a columnist for the ''

'' (as national affairs columnist), and the now-defunct ''

''. He writes frequently for Canadian newspapers and news sites. He has served as editor and publisher of ''Policy'' magazine, a bi-monthly on Canadian politics and public policy. He was editor-in-chief from 2002 to 2012 of ''Policy Options'', published by the

Institute for Research on Public Policy The Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP; ) is an independent, national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization based in Montreal, Quebec. Its mission is to "improve public policy in Canada by generating research, providing insight and i ...

. His political column appears on ''

'' and he is a frequent commentator on CPAC (the Cable Public Affairs Channel) and CTV (the CTV Television Network). Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said: "The thing that makes Ian MacDonald’s columns interesting and important to read is that he’s worked on the inside at very senior levels of government and knows how it works. And it shows." He wrote his first book in 1984, "Mulroney: The Making of the Prime Minister" that covered Brian Mulroney's rise from boyhood to Prime Minister of Canada. MacDonald has published six more books, all with McGill-Queen's University Press, most recently ''Politics, People & Potpourri'', selected by

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

(CBC Television) as "one of the best political reads" of 2009, and ''Inside Politics'', a collection published in 2018.''Inside Politics''
/ref>

Personal life

MacDonald has two daughters.

Publications

* ''Mulroney: The Making of the Prime Minister'', by L. Ian MacDonald, 1984. * ''Free Trade: Risks and Rewards'', edited by L. Ian MacDonald, 2000. * ''From Bourassa to Bourassa: Wilderness to Restoration'', by L. Ian MacDonald, 2002. * ''Leo: A Life'', by Leo Kolber, with L. Ian MacDonald, 2003. * ''Politics, People & Potpourri'', by L. Ian MacDonald, 2009. * ''Inside Politics,'' by L. Ian MacDonald, 2018. * ''Politics & Players'', by L. Ian MacDonald, 2022.

References

External links

L. Ian MacDonald's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, L. Ian 1947 births 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists Anglophone Quebec people Canadian broadcast news analysts Canadian columnists Diplomats for Canada Canadian magazine journalists Canadian male journalists Canadian newspaper reporters and correspondents Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian political commentators CTV Television Network people Journalists from Montreal Living people Loyola College (Montreal) alumni Montreal Gazette people Speechwriters Writers from Montreal