Family says former Liberal cabinet minister Donald Macdonald dead at 86

Longtime Liberal politician and former cabinet minister Donald Macdonald died on Sunday at the age of 86, his family said.

His daughter Sonja Macdonald said he died in his sleep at his Toronto home.

"He was a great Canadian," said Sonja Macdonald through tears. "He committed his life to building this country."

Macdonald, who was born in Ottawa, was elected to the House of Commons in 1962 and was a cabinet minister under Pierre Trudeau.

Macdonald served as minister of national defence, minister of energy, mines and resources, minister of finance and president of the Privy Council during his career.

In the early 1980s he was appointed as the chairman of the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada, where he endorsed free trade with the United States.

The commission was given three years to complete the task of examining the future of Canada's economic prospects and its political institutions. The commission had a significant impact on the argument for the benefit of free trade with the U.S.

The recommendations were then presented to Brian Mulroney who become prime minister in 1984.

In 1988 Mulroney appointed Macdonald High Commissioner of Canada to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which Macdonald held for about three years.

Macdonald was named a companion of the Order of Canada in 1994 for his contributions to trade and social policy development.

"He was very humble," Sonja Macdonald said. "He was also funny, warm, smart and engaging."

Macdonald co-wrote "Thumper: The Memoirs of the Honourable Donald S. Macdonald" that was published in 2014. The book explored his political career that spanned four decades and detailed his friendship with Pierre Trudeau and encounters with world leaders.

The co-author of the memoir, Rod McQueen, told TVO that Thumper was a nickname for Macdonald because he had big feet.

Macdonald, who had four children and seven step-children, was also an avid tree-planter for most of his life, said Sonja Macdonald. She said he was passionate about reforesting and that he had been planting trees on the family's property in Uxbridge, Ont.

She said her father will also be remembered for his sense of fashion.

"He was very sharp dresser," she said. "He went nowhere without a bow tie."