John McCallum

Infobox CanadianMP
honorific-prefix = The Honourable
name = John McCallum
honorific-suffix =
PC, MP


riding = Markham—Unionville
parliament = Canadian
term_start = 2004 federal election
term_end =
predecessor = "new riding"
successor =
riding2 = Markham
parliament2 = Canadian
term_start2 = 2000
term_end2 = 2004
predecessor2 = Jim Jones
successor2 = "riding abolished"
birth_date = birth date and age | 1950|04|09
birth_place = Montreal, Quebec
death_date =
death_place =
party = Liberal
profession = Author, economist, professor
spouse = Nancy Lim
residence = Oakville, Ontario
footnotes =

John McCallum, PC, MP (born April 9, 1950) is a Liberal Canadian politician, economist and university professor. Following the 2006 Federal Election, he became the Liberal Finance Critic in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. Before the election, he was the thirty-seventh Minister of National Revenue and was also the Minister responsible for Canada Post Corporation, the Royal Canadian Mint, from 2004 to 2006 and acting Minister of Natural Resources from 2005 to 2006.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, he has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens' College, Cambridge University, a "diplôme d'études supérieures" from "Université de Paris" and a Doctorate in economics from McGill University. He was a professor of economics at the University of Manitoba from 1976 until 1978, Simon Fraser University from 1978 until 1982, the "Université du Québec à Montréal" from 1982 until 1987, and McGill University from 1987 until 1994. He is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada student #S139. He was also Dean of the Faculty of Arts at McGill University. He then became Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of the Royal Bank of Canada.

He is the author of 1980 book, "Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic Development in Quebec and Ontario until 1870". He is also the co-author (with Clarence Barber) of "Unemployment and Inflation: The Canadian Experience" and "Controlling Inflation: Learning from Experience in Canada, Europe and Japan". He also co-wrote "Parting as friends: the economic consequences for Quebec" in 1991 and "Global Disequilibrium in the World Economy" in 1992.

A Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) since the 2000 election, he currently represents Markham—Unionville. McCallum has previously filled the posts of Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions), Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs in the Cabinet of Canada under prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, respectively. He is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Academic Career (1976-94)

One of his most influential academic contributions [Research Papers in Economics http://logec.repec.org] was a seven-pagearticle in the American Economic Review entitled "National BordersMatter." The article has spawned an ongoing international debate on whether tradewithin a nation state is greater than trade among nations, ascompared with the predictions of standard economic models.

As McGill University’s Dean of Arts, McCallum secured a $10 million contributionfrom Mr. Charles Bronfman for the establishment of the McGill Institutefor the Study of Canada. [McGill gets $10 million for studies on Canada. Montreal Gazette 16 June 1993, pg A4]

He also participated in the national unity debates of the early 1990s,editing the Canada Round Series of the C. D. Howe Institute and engagingin debate with then Opposition Leader Jacques Parizeau at Quebec'sNational Assembly. [Anti-Quebec vitriol aids PQ: economist McGill professor, Pequiste chief Parizeau wage war of charts. Montreal Gazette 5 December 1991 pg A9]

Private Sector Career (1994-2000)

McCallum was the Royal Bank of Canada’s chief economist for six years. Whileconsistently achieving the highest media coverage of bank chiefeconomists, he also engaged in social issues, notably a 1997 Royal Bankconference designed to align the business community with therecommendations of the 1996 Report on the Royal Commission on AboriginalPeoples. The tenth anniversary of his paper at that conference, "TheCost of Doing Nothing," was recently highlighted in "Aboriginal Times Magazine". [Aboriginal Times Magazine. Vol 12, Issue 4, May-June 2007]

Political Career (2000-present)

Backbencher and Social Issues

McCallum successfully nominated Nelson Mandela as the second honorarycitizen in Canadian history. [Nelson Mandela, Citizen. Toronto Star, 14 June 2001 pg A32]

McCallum was quite vocal in Canada's debate on Same-Sex marriage. He told the Edmonton Sun in August 2003, "If people want to do something and it doesn’t hurt other people, doesn’t reduce other people’s rights, we should let them do it. Why not?" [Edmonton Sun, 13 August 2003] He also [http://www.equal-marriage.ca/resource.php?id=210 significantly contributed to the final debate] before the vote on same-sex marriage on 21 March 2005 [Hansard - Civil Marriage Act (C-38) debate - John McCallum (Lib)] saying:

I believe we should always seek to expand the rights of our fellow citizens as long as we do not thereby reduce the rights of others. We should seek to ensure that no group is denied full participation in society. As members of Parliament, we should not ask the question, why should we extend this right? Rather our question should be, why should we not extend the right? Let the burden of proof be on those who wish to limit fundamental rights....Many Canadians will want to accept both of these principles: protect the traditional definition of marriage and protect the rights of minorities. The essence of my message today is that we cannot do both. We cannot have it both ways. We must make a choice between traditional marriage and the protection of minority rights.

Defence Minister

As Defence Minister, McCallum achieved what was then the largestincrease in the annual defence budget ($1 billion) in more than adecade in return for offering up $200 million in savings from reducinglow priority spending. [The Budget Plan 2003, page 163] He alsoretroactively reversed a gross inequity which awarded up to $250,000 tomilitary personnel who lost their eyesight or a limb while on activeservice - but only to those with the rank of colonel or above. Now allCanadian Forces members are covered by the plan regardless of rank. [Bill C-44, An Act to compensate military members injured duringservice, 37th Parliament, 2nd session] Working with Germany, hesuccessfully persuaded NATO to take control over the security mission inKabul, Afghanistan, while also ensuring that the mission was led byCanada. [Canadian troops to be deployed to Afghanistan: 2,000 soldiers to join NATO force in Kabul; National Post 6 May 2003, pg A4] He also determined that the army, rather than the navy or air force, was to be the top priority inbudget allocations. [McCallum sets top priorities; Hill Times, 8 September 2003 pg 1]

He became widely known and criticized in 2002 when he admitted, while serving as the Minister of National Defence, that he had never heard of the 1942 Dieppe raid, a fateful and nationally significant operation for Canadian Forces during the Second World War. [cite web | title = MQUP prank | url = http://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/35/01/mqup/] Ironically, he wrote a letter to the editor of the National Post in response, but committed a further gaffe, confusing Canadian participation in the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge in France with the Nazi-puppet state of Vichy France from 1940 to 1944. Response at the continued historical ignorance prompted outrage and humour among the press.

In November 2002, while still serving as Defence Minister, McCallum encountered further controversy when officials refused to allow him to board an Air Canada flight because his breath smelt heavily of alcohol. [cite web | title = Canadian defence minister gives up alcohol after being barred from Air Canada flight | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CWU/is_2002_Nov_29/ai_94723948] McCallum announced soon thereafter that the incident prompted him to abstain completely from alcohol consumption. He reportedly also intended to lose weight and give up smoking.

In January 2003, McCallum prompted both indignation and gales of laughter in the House of Commons when he mocked Conservative MP Elsie Wayne's flamboyant attire. [cite web | title = Defence minister apologizes twice for insensitive remarks | url = http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/01/28/mccallum030128.html] When asked by Wayne about proper identification markers for Canadian military vehicles (to prevent friendly fire incidents), McCallum responded: "if our soldiers were to wear the dress of the honourable member over there, they would be very well identified." McCallum later apologized both inside and outside the House of Commons for using inappropriate language, blaming the excitement of the moment. Wayne, though shocked and hurt, accepted the apology.

Veterans Affairs Minister

McCallum introduced a new charter for younger, postwar veterans who havebeen physically or mentally injured while serving in the CanadianForces. This charter, which became law in 2005, is modeled on the rangeof services provided for returning veterans after World War II. [Boost in benefits for veterans promised; Toronto Star 5 May 2004 pg A4]

Expenditure Review Committee

As Chair of Expenditure Review Committee, McCallum achieved expenditurereductions of $11 billion over five years. [McCallum on the hunt for $1-billion more in savings. Hill Times 5 March 2005, pg 56]

Personal life

He is married to Nancy Lim and has three children.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=17799&s=M Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=2142268841114082530&q=mptv Income Trust scandal discussion with John McCallum - 16 February 2007]

Persondata
NAME=McCallum, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=April 9, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=