Michael J. L. Kirby (born August 5, 1941) 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 ...

politician. He sat in 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 ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

representing

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 is the former chair of the

Mental Health Commission of Canada The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is a national non-profit organization created by the Canadian government in 2007 in response to a Senate committee tasked to study mental health, mental illness, and addiction. The committee appoint ...

. Born 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 ...

, Kirby earned 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 ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in mathematics from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

where he was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

fraternity, and, also a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in applied mathematics from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. In the 1960s Kirby was a professor of business administration and public administration at Dalhousie and also taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

. Kirby worked as principal assistant to the

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 ...

Gerald Regan Gerald Augustine Paul Regan (February 13, 1928 – November 26, 2019) was a Canadian politician (as federal MP and later as Nova Scotia MLA), who served as the 19th premier of Nova Scotia from 1970 to 1978. Early life and education Regan wa ...

from 1970 to 1973 and Assistant Principal Secretary to

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

from 1974 to 1976. He served as President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy from 1977 to 1980. Kirby chaired the federal Task Force on Atlantic Fisheries which was established to recommend how to achieve and maintain a viable Atlantic fishing industry. It issued its report in 1982. Kirby returned to public service in the 1980s as Secretary to the

Canadian Cabinet The Canadian Ministry ( French: ''Conseil des ministres''), colloquially referred to as the Cabinet of Canada (), is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms ...

for Federal-Provincial Relations and Deputy Clerk of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs. Practically, ...

. As such he participated in the federal-provincial negotiations that led to the

patriation Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The process was necessary because, at the time, under the '' Statute of Westminster, 1931'', and with Canada's agreemen ...

of the

Canadian Constitution The Constitution of Canada () is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various ...

in 1982. He was elevated to the Canadian Senate by Pierre Trudeau in January 1984 weeks before the prime minister announced his intention to retire. He remained active in the private sector serving as vice-president of Goldfarb Consultants from 1984 to 1994 at a period when the polling firm was often employed by the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

. Kirby also served as a backroom advisor to the Liberals and frequently appeared on television as a political pundit during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2001, Kirby joined

Chapters Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

' board of directors. Kirby was the principal author of a 2002 report by the committee on Canada's health care system. The report urged greater private sector involvement in health care delivery and was seen as a rival to the

royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

report on health care released by

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician who served as the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. He was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 1987 until his retirement in 2001. He was the Mem ...

. Kirby was criticised for having a conflict of interest in his role in writing the report due to his service on the boards of directors of various private health care companies. On August 15, 2006, Kirby announced his resignation from the Canadian Senate effective on October 31, 2006. His retirement came nearly a decade before his mandatory retirement in August 2016. In 2007, he was asked by Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

to become the first Chair of the newly created

, a not-for-profit organization that was created in response to his 2003 Senate report on mental health. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. Kirby founded Partners for Mental Health and served as its first chair. The organization closed in 2017.

References

External links

*
Health Canada page linking to key Federal reports and commissions and their background material, including Romanow Report and Kirby Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Michael J. L. 1941 births Living people Academics of the University of Kent Canadian senators from Nova Scotia Dalhousie University alumni Academic staff of Dalhousie University Liberal Party of Canada senators Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from Montreal University of Chicago faculty Canadian political consultants Directors of Scotiabank Canadian corporate directors Indigo Books and Music people Northwestern University alumni 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada Phi Delta Theta members 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada

Archives

References

External links