Don Mazankowski

The Right Honourable Don Mazankowski PC OC AOE
4th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
In office 29 June 1986 – 25 June 1993
Preceded by	Erik Nielsen
Succeeded by	Jean Charest
Member of Parliament for Vegreville, Alberta
In office 1968 – 1993
Preceded by	Frank Fane
Succeeded by	Leon Benoit
Personal details
Born	Donald Frank Mazankowski (1935-07-27) July 27, 1935 Viking, Alberta
Political party	Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Residence	Calgary, Alberta
Profession	businessman, consultant, politician

Donald Frank "Don" Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE (born July 27, 1935) is a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Mulroney. He is currently a consultant with the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP. He also serves as a director or trustee for a number of companies, including Weyerhaeuser Co., ATCO Ltd., Shaw Communications Inc., and Power Corporation of Canada.

Life and career

Mazankowski was born in Viking, Alberta to parents of Polish descent. He went into business and became the manager of an auto dealership. Long interested in politics, Mazankowski became an important member of the Albertan Progressive Conservative Party, and in the 1968 federal election, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Vegreville, Alberta.

During the short-lived Clark government, Mazankowski served as Minister of Transport. When the Tories returned to power under Mulroney in the 1984 election, Mazankowski again became Minister of Transport. In 1986, he was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister and Government House Leader. Mazankowski became one of the most widely-known public faces of the Tory government. He played an especially important role as an advocate for the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Mulroney government became increasingly unpopular, however, but Mazankowski was less severely affected than others. In 1991, he became Finance Minister, replacing the extremely unpopular Michael Wilson.

Mazankowski retired from politics on June 7, 1993. When Kim Campbell succeeded Mulroney as PC leader and prime minister two weeks later, Mazankowski was replaced as Finance Minister by Gilles Loiselle. Mazankowski did not run in the 1993 election that saw his party reduced to two seats in the House of Commons. Mazankowski returned to the private sector, and served on the boards of several organizations, including the University of Alberta. He declined an offer of a Senate seat made by Brian Mulroney in his final days as Prime Minister.

He has remained involved in politics. In 2002, he headed an investigation in Alberta's health care system. He also played an important role in the merger between the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance party, and is a strong supporter of the new Conservative Party of Canada.

He is one of the few Canadians to be given the title of "The Right Honourable" without having held an office that would entitle him to it.

In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2003, he was awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence.

Quotations

• "Excuse me, I'm the deputy prime minister of Canada, and I think your horse just left a whole pile of shit on the sidewalk, and I want you to have it cleaned up." (to an RCMP officer on horseback on Parliament Hill)

External links

• Don Mazankowski - Parliament of Canada biography
• Order of Canada citation

24th Ministry – Cabinet of Brian Mulroney
Cabinet Posts (6)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Erik Nielsen	Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (1986–1993)	Jean Charest
Michael Wilson	Minister of Finance (1991–1993)	Gilles Loiselle
Ray Hnatyshyn	President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (1986–1991)	Joe Clark
John Wise	Minister of Agriculture (1988–1991)	Bill McKnight
Robert de Cotret	President of the Treasury Board (1987–1988)	Pat Carney
Lloyd Axworthy	Minister of Transport (1984–1986) second time	John Crosbie
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Ray Hnatyshyn	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (1986–1989)	Doug Lewis
21st Ministry – Cabinet of Joe Clark
Cabinet Posts (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Otto Lang	Minister of Transport 1979–1980 first time	Jean-Luc Pépin