Husband, Uncle, Scholar, Friend

It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of Douglas Macdonald. Beloved husband to Lorraine, uncle to June and Catharine. Predeceased by his brother Kenneth and son of Vivian Callan and Edwin Macdonald.

A treasured friend and valued colleague, particularly at the University of Toronto’s School of the Environment.

Doug was a pioneer in the study of environmental policy and politics in Canada, the author of landmark works in the field, including The Politics of Pollution (1991), Business and Environmental Politics (2007) (winner of the 2008 Donald Smiley Prize of the Canadian Political Science Association) and most recently Carbon Province/Hydro Province: The Challenge of Canadian Energy and Climate Federalism (2020). His book chapters and articles provide the foundations of reading lists on environmental policy across Canada. As a Lecturer first with the Innis College Environmental Studies program at the University of Toronto, and later as program director with the University’s School of the Environment, he inspired generations of students to respond to the challenges of environmental degradation and a dangerously changing climate.

However, Doug was not a mere observer of politics. He was also a participant. His career began as an advisor to then North York Mayor Mel Lastman, and he had a longstanding affiliation with the NDP in the Toronto-Danforth Riding. He served as Executive Director, and later member of the board, with the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) and was one of the founders of the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund (now Environmental Defence).

Beyond his role as a scholar and activist, Doug was treasured as a friend and mentor. He was a valued canoe-tripping companion, and host to many happy gatherings of friends and family at his country property outside of Toronto.

Dismayed at the levels of division and polarisation that were coming to define Canada’s debates over how to respond to climate change, Doug’s last project was to establish Climate Talk Canada. This initiative brings together scholars and practitioners from Atlantic Canada to British Columbia to engage in informed conversations to find paths forward on climate change that will unite rather than divide.

Lorraine wishes to thank the many friends who visited or reached out to Doug during the past few weeks, as well as physicians, nurses and staff at the Palliative Care Unit at Bridgepoint Hospital for the excellent care they provided.

By Mark Winfield