Don Jamieson
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Donald Campbell Jamieson, PC (April 30, 1921 – November 19, 1986) was a Canadian politician, diplomat and broadcaster.
Jamieson was born in St. John's Newfoundland. His father was a newspaper editor, and his grandfather was a fisherman who settled in Newfoundland from Scotland.
He worked for Newfoundland's Department of Rural Reconstruction, as a bookkeeper, and as a sales manager for Coca-Cola before starting a career in broadcasting. He was Newfoundland's best known radio and television personality.
In 1945, he became the first Newfoundlander to sit in the press gallery of the Parliament of Canada, reporting on the negotiations that led to Canada inviting Newfoundland to join Canadian Confederation. During the two referenda on the question in 1948, Jamieson vehemently campaigned in opposition to Newfoundland joining Canada, favouring an economic union with the United States instead.
In 1951, he obtained a licence, in partnership with Geoff W. Stirling, for a new radio station in St. John's. He eventually established a private radio network in Newfoundland, and the island's first television station CJON-TV. He became president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters in 1961, and remained in that position for four years.
Jamieson entered politics by successfully contesting a 1966 by-election as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada. He was re-elected in the 1968 election ,and joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as Minister of Defence Production. In 1969, he became Minister of Transport retaining that portfolio until 1972 when he became Minister of Regional Economic Expansion. In 1976, he became Secretary of State for External Affairs.
He was re-elected in the 1979 election that brought down the Liberal government. Jamieson then moved to provincial politics, winning the leadership of the Newfoundland Liberal Party one month before the June 1979 provincial election. Jamieson's Liberals were defeated, and he resigned as provincial party leader in 1980.
In 1982, he was appointed Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and served until 1985.
He returned to Newfoundland to run his broadcasting interests before dying of a heart attack in 1986.
| Preceded by: James Armstrong Richardson |
Minister of Transport 1969 – 1972 |
Succeeded by: Jean Marchand |
| Preceded by: Allan MacEachen |
Secretary of State for External Affairs 14 September 1976 – 3 June 1979 |
Succeeded by: Flora MacDonald |
Categories: 1921 births | 1986 deaths | Canadian diplomats | Canadian Ministers of Transport | Liberal Party of Canada MPs | Members of the 20th Ministry in Canada | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Newfoundland and Labrador | Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada | People from St. John's
