Mickey MacDonald (born 1952) is an entrepreneur in Halifax,

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 ...

, Canada who has been involved in telecommunications, food retailing and the fitness industries.

Businesses

Clearwater

The first time MacDonald got back to Halifax, he helped his brother Colin and Rick, and brother-in-law John Risley start up a fishery company called Clearwater.

DownEast Communications

MacDonald purchased the single telecommunications store located on the Bedford Highway that specialized in wireless communications in 1991 and grew it to 51 locations across Atlantic Canada. The company was sold to

Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atlantic provinces and a few othe ...

(now

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for Telecommunications in Canada, telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atl ...

) on October 1, 2004 Chicken_Burger

The Chickenburger

On March 19, 2007 MacDonald purchased

The Chickenburger The Chickenburger is a Bedford Highway roadside landmark located in Bedford, Nova Scotia that is reputed to be the oldest drive-in diner in Canada. History In 1930, Salter Innes founded the ''Bedford Sunnyside'' canteen along the Bedford Highwa ...

, a 1950s style diner located on the

Bedford Highway The Bedford Highway is a highway in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia that is part of Trunk 2. It runs around the western side of the Bedford Basin. The highway starts at the Windsor Street intersection on the Halifax Peninsula an ...

, which is considered to be a

Bedford, Nova Scotia Bedford (pop. 36,354 ) is a former town and now a district of Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the north west shore of the Bedford Basin in the central area of the municipality. It borders the nei ...

landmark famous for its burgers that consist of boiled chicken on a hamburger bun.

Palooka’s Gym

In the spring of 2007, MacDonald founded Palooka's Gym, a fitness centre that focuses on its competitive boxing program in addition to general fitness in an old movie house on Göttingen Street in

Downtown Halifax Downtown Halifax is the primary central business district of the Municipality of Halifax. Located on the central-eastern portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour. Along with Downtown Dartmouth, and other de facto central business di ...

. On September 8, 2011 it was announced that Palooka's Gym on Göttingen St would be permanently ceasing operations by the end of the month, but there was also a location open on the Bedford highway.

Charities

Bella Rose Arts Centre

MacDonald contributed $300,000 CAD to

Theatre Halifax The Bella Rose Arts Centre is a community-based proscenium theatre performing arts centre located inside of Halifax West High School in the Clayton Park, Nova Scotia, Clayton Park neighbourhood of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Th ...

, a community theatre in

Halifax West High School Halifax West High School is a Canadian public high school located in the Lacewood neighbourhood in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Encompassing grades 10 through 12, Halifax West High School offers a variety of courses in both ...

. To show appreciation for this donation, the theatre changed its name to the Bella Rose Arts Centre in honour of MacDonald's mother Bella and his daughter Rose.

Personal life

MacDonald grew up one of seven children in

Fairview, Halifax Fairview is a community within the urban area of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. History Prior to European colonization, the Mi'kmaq lived on the land for thousands of years. In the 1750s, many of the Foreign Protestants settled in the area. F ...

. He left school in grade nine and worked at odd jobs across Canada, spending some time homeless in

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 ...

, Ontario. While in Toronto he started

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

competitively. MacDonald later completed a

GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...

. One of his brothers, Colin, is also a prominent Halifax area businessman while another, Rick, is a boxing trainer.

References

External links

Palooka's Gym

The ChickenBurger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Mickey 1952 births Living people Businesspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian people of Scottish descent