Michael Wilson (Canadian politician)

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Wilson was the son of Constance L. (Davies) and Harry Holcombe Wilson.[2] Wilson attended Upper Canada College and then Trinity College at the University of Toronto, where he joined the Kappa Alpha Society.

Wilson was a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He tried to woo young delegates by having the rock group Spoons perform on his behalf. He dropped off after the first ballot and urged his supporters to vote for Brian Mulroney, the eventual winner. Mulroney appointed Wilson as Minister of Finance when the party formed a government after the 1984 election.

Wilson reformed the tax system to broaden the tax base and lower tax rates, removing many special tax provisions, and helped negotiate the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement. He also announced the Goods and Services Tax in his 1989 budget, a tax introduced in 1990 which is still in place today and is considered a necessary source of federal income, despite being unpopular with consumers.[3]

In 1991, after seven years as Minister of Finance, Wilson became Minister of Industry, Science and Technology and Minister of International Trade. In that role, he participated in negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Wilson was not a candidate in the 1993 election, and he returned to Bay Street to head his own consulting and financial services firm. He later rejoined Royal Bank of Canada, and he was Chairman and CEO of RT Capital when that business was sold to UBS AG. Wilson served as Chairman of UBS Canada from 2001 to 2006.

In recent years, he was a spokesman for a lobby group promoting public–private partnerships, and he was the Chairman of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance. From 2003 to 2007, Wilson served as the Chancellor of Trinity College. In July 2012, he became the Chancellor of the University of Toronto, and he was re-elected to an additional three-year term in 2015.[4]

Wilson was a mental health advocate, having lost a son to depression and suicide.[5] Wilson established the Cameron Parker Holcombe Wilson Chair in Depression Studies at the University of Toronto. He also sat on the board of directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Wilson was active in many other organizations, including the NeuroScience Canada Partnership, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships, the Loran Scholars Foundation, the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

On 30 October 2003, Wilson was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2010.[6]

On 9 April 2015, it was announced that Wilson was appointed as the new board chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.[7] He was also a member of the Trilateral Commission.[8]

Wilson with United States Congressman Dan Burton in 2006

On 16 February 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the nomination of Wilson as Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America. He succeeded Frank McKenna in Washington, D.C. Wilson became the 22nd Canadian Ambassador to the United States on 13 March 2006, when U.S. President George W. Bush accepted his credentials.

Wilson was married to Margie Wilson and was predeceased by son Cameron, who suffered from depression and died by suicide in 1995.[11] Following his son's death, Wilson devoted considerable time to advocate for mental health. The couple had two other children: son Geoff Wilson and daughter Lara O'Brien, both of whom married and have children.[12] Wilson died from cancer on February 10, 2019.[13]

There is a Michael Wilson fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[14]

• Michael Wilson – Parliament of Canada biography
• "Alumni Portraits: Michael Wilson". University of Toronto.
• "About the Chancellor". University of Toronto.
• Appearances on C-SPAN