Angus Lewis Macdonald Angus Lewis Macdonald , PC , QC ( August 10 , 1890 – April 13 , 1954 ) , popularly known as ' Angus L . ' , was a Canadian lawyer , law professor and politician from Nova Scotia . He served as the Liberal premier of Nova Scotia from 1933 to 1940 , when he became the federal minister of defence for naval services . He oversaw the creation of an effective Canadian navy and Allied convoy service during World War II . After the war , he returned to Nova Scotia to become premier again . In the election of 1945 , his Liberals swept back into power while their main rivals , the Conservatives , failed to win a single seat . The Liberal rallying cry , " All ' s Well With Angus L . , " was so well received that the Conservatives despaired of ever beating Macdonald . He died in office in 1954 . Macdonald ' s more than 15 years as premier brought fundamental changes . Under his leadership , the Nova Scotia government spent more than $ 100 million paving roads , building bridges , extending electrical transmission lines and improving public education . Macdonald dealt with the mass unemployment of the Great Depression by putting the jobless to work on highway projects . He felt direct government relief payments would weaken moral character , undermine self - respect and discourage personal initiative . However , he also faced the reality that the financially strapped Nova Scotia government could not afford to participate fully in federal relief programs that required matching contributions from the provinces . Macdonald was considered one of his province ' s most eloquent political orators . He articulated a philosophy of provincial autonomy , arguing that poorer provinces needed a greater share of national tax revenues to pay for health , education and welfare . He contended that Nova Scotians were victims of a national policy that protected the industries of Ontario and Quebec with steep tariffs forcing people to pay higher prices for manufactured goods . It was no accident , Macdonald said , that Nova Scotia had gone from the richest province per capita before Canadian Confederation in 1867 to poorest by the 1930s . Macdonald was a classical liberal in the 19th - century tradition of John Stuart Mill . He believed in individual freedom and responsibility and feared that the growth of government bureaucracy would threaten liberty . For him , the role of the state was to provide basic services . He supported public ownership of utilities like the Nova Scotia Power Commission , but rejected calls for more interventionist policies such as government ownership of key industries or big loans to private companies . Early life and education . Angus Lewis Macdonald was born August 10 , 1890 , on a small family farm at Dunvegan , Inverness County , on Cape Breton Island . He was the ninth child in a family of 14 . His mother was from a prominent Acadian family on Prince Edward Island while his father ' s family had emigrated to Cape Breton from the Scottish Highlands in 1810 . The Macdonalds were devout Roman Catholics as well as ardent Liberal Party supporters . In 1905 , when Macdonald was 15 , the family moved to the town of Port Hood , Cape Breton . Macdonald attended the Port Hood Academy . He hoped to enroll next in the Bachelor of Arts program at St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish , but his family couldn ' t afford to pay for a university education so Macdonald obtained a teaching licence and taught for two years to finance his education . Midway through his university studies , he took another year off to earn money teaching . He completed his final term on credit and was required to teach in the university ' s high school during 1914 – 15 to pay off his debt . Macdonald did well at St . FX . He played rugby , joined the debating team , edited the student newspaper and , in his graduating year , won the gold medal in seven of his eight courses . He was also class valedictorian . War service . The First World War broke out while Macdonald was earning his university degree . In 1915 , he underwent military training in the Canadian Officers Training Corps . In February 1916 , he joined the 185th battalion , known as the Cape Breton Highlanders , leaving for Britain in October 1916 where he received further training . Macdonald was finally sent to the front lines in France in May 1918 as a lieutenant in Nova Scotia ' s 25th battalion . He participated in heavy fighting and on one occasion led his entire company because all of the other officers had been wounded or killed . Macdonald felt fortunate to have been spared , but his luck ran out in Belgium when he was hit in the neck by a German sniper ' s bullet on November 7 , 1918 , just four days before the Armistice . Macdonald spent eight months in Britain recovering from his wound . He returned home to his family in Cape Breton in 1919 . Biographer Stephen Henderson writes that the war had made him " more serious and less self - confident " , but " struck by the willingness of so many to march to horrible deaths in the name of an abstract principle " . Life before politics . In September 1919 , the 29 - year - old Macdonald began studying at Dalhousie Law School in Halifax . During his two years there , Macdonald formed lifelong friendships with students who were to become members of the political elite in the region . Once again , he excelled in athletics , was elected to the Dalhousie students ' council , became the associate editor of the student newspaper and led the opposition in the law school ' s Mock Parliament . He scored firsts in nearly every course and graduated in 1921 with academic distinction . Macdonald was hired by the Nova Scotia government as assistant deputy attorney - general immediately after graduating from law school . He worked mainly as an administrator , although he occasionally appeared in court to help the attorney general prosecute a case . In 1922 , Macdonald became a part - time lecturer at the law school . When he left the attorney - general ' s office in 1924 , he became a full - time professor . Macdonald was a popular and effective teacher . One former student describes him sitting at his desk on the rostrum speaking slowly and deliberately while gazing intently at the ceiling . " The more students disagreed ( with one another in class ) the more Angus encouraged it . " On June 17 , 1924 , when he was 33 , Macdonald married Agnes Foley , a member of a prominent Irish Catholic family . They had worked together in the attorney general ' s office where Foley served as secretary . Between 1925 and 1936 , the Macdonalds would have three daughters and a son . Agnes raised the children and ran the household after Macdonald entered politics . Biographer John Hawkins writes she eventually helped her husband win election in a Halifax riding with a significant Irish Catholic population . She had a large circle of friends including members of the powerful Liberal Women ' s societies of Halifax . Hawkins also notes that Agnes Macdonald was a gifted hostess who loved conversation . " Quick witted , her rapid and varied flow of language contrasted with Angus L . ' s deliberate , thoughtful manner of speaking , which some have described as a ' drawl ' . " In 1925 – 26 , while teaching at the Dalhousie Law School , Macdonald took additional courses in law at Columbia University in New York , mainly by correspondence . He used these courses as the basis for full - time graduate work at the Harvard Law School in Boston , Massachusetts in 1928 . Harvard ' s faculty members saw the law as an instrument for social improvement . That view was reflected in Macdonald ' s 1929 doctoral thesis on the responsibility of property holders under civil law . When the deanship of the law school came open in 1929 , Macdonald agonized over whether he should seek the job . He apparently had strong support from several members of the university ' s board of governors . At the same time however , he was increasingly drawn to politics and accepting the deanship would mean postponing his political ambitions indefinitely . In the end , the job was offered to Sidney Smith , another prominent Canadian academic who accepted on condition that Macdonald remain at the school . Macdonald did stay , but only for one more year . In 1930 , he resigned so he would be free to enter politics . Early political career . Federal campaign , 1930 . The federal election in the summer of 1930 gave the 40 - year - old Macdonald a chance to run for office . He decided to contest the riding of Inverness in his native Cape Breton . There he faced a Conservative opponent whose style contrasted sharply with his own cool and reserved manner . According to biographer John Hawkins , I . D . " Ike " MacDougall " was a gifted performer who before an audience could cut an opponent ' s well - marshalled arguments until they fell amid roars of laughter . He was the master of hyperbole , pun and high spirits . He could win a rural audience , not by his logic , but by his performance on the platform " . Macdonald campaigned hard , but the trend was against him . The Conservatives led by R . B . Bennett defeated Mackenzie King ' s unpopular Liberals . And in Inverness , Ike MacDougall was re - elected by the narrow margin of 165 votes . It was to be Macdonald ' s only election defeat . Afterwards , Macdonald retreated to Halifax where he opened his own private law office in August 1930 . Provincial convention , 1930 . Macdonald was active in provincial Liberal Party organizational work during the latter part of the 1920s . In 1925 , the party had suffered a crushing defeat after 43 years in power . On election day , the Liberals were reduced to three seats in the Nova Scotia legislature . Many believed that the time had come to return the party to its reformist roots . Macdonald worked with other reform - minded members to establish a network of younger Liberals intent on reviving their party . In the 1928 provincial election , the Liberals regained some of their lost popularity in one of the closest votes in Nova Scotia history . The Conservatives remained in power with 23 seats to the Liberals ' 20 . Economic conditions worsened after the stock market crash of 1929 making it seem increasingly likely that the Liberals would return to power in the next election . Macdonald helped draft a 15 - point party platform for approval at a Liberal convention in the fall of 1930 . It promised an eight - hour working day and free elementary school textbooks . It also pledged to establish a formal inquiry into Nova Scotia ' s economic prospects and the province ' s place within . The convention , held on October 1 , 1930 , proved to be a turning point both for the party and for Macdonald . In a departure from tradition , the party ' s new leader would be chosen by convention delegates instead of Liberal caucus members at the legislature . Two veterans of Liberal politics , both wealthy businessmen , were contesting the leadership . There was little enthusiasm , however , for either . Just as nominations were about to close , a delegate from Truro rose unexpectedly to nominate Macdonald . Surprised , Macdonald at first declined the nomination , then agreed to accept it when he sensed strong support on the convention floor . A few hours later , the 40 - year - old Macdonald had won a resounding first - ballot victory to become the new Liberal leader . Liberal party leader . After winning the Liberal leadership , Macdonald travelled the province on speaking tours helping organize party support in every constituency . As Liberal leader , he proved to be an effective platform speaker . According to biographer John Hawkins , Macdonald ' s " plain talk and simplicity " persuaded audiences of his honesty . He developed the ability to explain political issues with a " clarity that every voter could understand " . When the legislature was in session , he led the Liberals from the public galleries because he had no seat in the House . There were six vacancies , but the Conservatives refused to call by - elections fearing they would lose their five seat majority . Macdonald publicly criticized Premier Gordon Harrington for depriving so many Nova Scotians of representation . He deplored what he called " the loss of responsible government . " It was a message that struck a chord in the province that had been the first in Canada to achieve responsible government in 1848 thanks to the efforts of the great liberal Reformer Joseph Howe . Privately however , Macdonald rejoiced that the government couldn ' t risk calling a by - election telling one supporter years later , " If the truth must be told , I was sometimes afraid that they would open up a seat and deprive me of this sort of ammunition " . Macdonald was able to use the theme of responsible government even more effectively during the provincial election campaign of 1933 . The governing Conservatives , desperate to avoid electoral defeat , had enacted changes requiring that new voters ' lists be drawn up by government - appointed registrars immediately before each election . Predictably , thousands of Liberal voters were left off the lists and the new law allowed only three days for corrections . The Liberals secured a court order requiring the appointment of additional registrars and some of the disenfranchised voters were finally added to the lists . The so - called Franchise Scandal enabled the Liberal press to cast Macdonald as a latter - day Joe Howe , crusading for the rights of the people . " No newcomer to the political scene " , writes historian Murray Beck , " has ever become so quickly , widely , and favourably known in such a dramatic fashion " . The scandal , compounded by suffering in the province due to the Great Depression , resulted in Macdonald ' s Liberals winning 22 of the 30 seats on August 22 , 1933 . The Conservatives were now associated in the public mind with corruption and hard times . They would not regain power for 23 years . First term as premier 1933 – 37 . Macdonald was sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia on September 5 , 1933 . He was 43 years old and had never held a seat in the legislature . Historian Murray Beck writes that Macdonald ' s cabinet was " probably Nova Scotia ' s strongest " . Biographer Stephen Henderson points out that the " ministers were fresh , motivated and knowledgeable about their portfolios " , although Macdonald himself had no experience in finance . Biographer John Hawkins characterizes the Liberal party of 1933 as " a party of thinkers and reformers " . During the 1930s , Macdonald ' s Liberals took credit for leading the province out of the depths of the Great Depression . As journalist Harry Flemming wrote many years later , Macdonald became " God himself " , the premier who " paved the roads and put the power into every home from Cape North to Cape Sable " . Pensions and relief programs . On his first day in office , Macdonald kept a key Liberal promise by bringing in old age pension s for elderly people in need . Cheques would be mailed out to 6 , 000 pensioners by the end of March 1934 . It was a popular move even though monthly pension payments in Nova Scotia were substantially below the national average . The economic conditions facing the new government were dismal . Tens of thousands of Nova Scotians were impoverished and unemployed . The government expected that 75 , 000 Nova Scotians would need assistance during the coming winter . Biographer Stephen Henderson writes that Macdonald sympathized with the poor , but he worried that direct government relief payments would undermine their pride and self - respect . Even though direct relief might be cheaper , the Macdonald government preferred to hire the unemployed for public works projects such as paving roads . Henderson reports that in 1933 , there were only of paved roads in the province . By 1937 , that figure had risen to 605 . The government financed such public works by selling low - interest bonds and raising gasoline taxes from six to eight cents a gallon . Macdonald also urged the federal Conservative government of R . B . Bennett to increase financial support to poorer provinces . At the time , there was no national system of unemployment insurance and the Bennett Conservatives insisted that the unemployed were mainly the responsibility of the provinces and municipalities . Although the federal government did provide relief during the Depression , Nova Scotia and the two other Maritime provinces were hampered by the federal system of matching grants for relief programs . Under that system , provinces received federal money only if they were willing to contribute a percentage of their own revenues . Thus , the poorest provinces received less federal aid than the richer ones because they couldn ' t afford to match the federal grants . Historian E . R . Forbes points out for example , that from January to May 1935 , all three levels of government spent an average of $ 2 . 84 for each relief recipient in the Maritimes , an amount less than half the $ 6 . 18 spent in the other six provinces . Jones Commission . Macdonald tried to deal with the financial imbalances in Confederation by appointing a Royal Commission . He asked it to recommend economic polices the province should follow to lessen the effects of the Depression and to lay out a framework for negotiations with the federal government . The three - man Jones Commission included Harold Innis , a prominent economic historian who had studied disparities between highly developed manufacturing regions and marginal ones that depended primarily on exploiting natural resources . After touring the province and hearing from more than 200 witnesses , the Commission issued its report in December 1934 . Macdonald could take satisfaction in its finding that high tariffs had sheltered central Canadian manufacturing at Nova Scotia ' s expense and that federal subsidies to the province were " seriously inadequate " . The Commission recommended that the federal government assume responsibility for financing social programs such as old - age pensions and unemployment insurance . It also argued that Ottawa should establish equity among provinces and that redistribution of federal tax revenues should be based on need , an idea that became central to Macdonald ' s thinking about federal - provincial relations . Among other things , the Commission called on the Macdonald government to continue paving roads ; to undertake a program of rural electrification to keep young people on family farms ; and , to establish a professional civil service that would defend Nova Scotia ' s interests against federal bureaucrats in Ottawa . Tourism and Nova Scotian identity . The Macdonald government took practical steps to promote tourism as a way of bringing money into the province . It improved conditions for tourists by granting small loans to hotel , motel and cottage owners to upgrade their facilities . It also offered cooking classes to restaurant and hotel employees . The government ' s extensive road building program made it easier for tourists to travel . But biographer Stephen Henderson writes that Macdonald went well beyond these practical steps to promote Nova Scotia as a beautiful and rustic place peopled by colourful Scots , Acadians , Germans and Mi ' kmaq . Government advertising portrayed the province " as a place where urban , middle - class families could go to ' step back in time ' " . Gradually , Henderson maintains , the tourism campaigns created a new identity for Nova Scotians . " They witnessed the provincial state constructing an elaborate network of modern roads ; they read books and brochures extolling the beauty of the province , and they heard their premier waxing romantically about the pure , simple nobility of their ancestors . " Macdonald was especially enthusiastic about " the romanticized culture of the Highland Scots " . Historian Ian McKay writes that under his leadership , the provincial government gave money to the Gaelic College ; bestowed Scottish names on key tourism sites and stationed " a brawny Scots piper " at the border with New Brunswick . Macdonald also helped assemble more than a quarter of a million acres ( 4 , 000 km ) for the Cape Breton Highlands National Park complete with a fancy resort hotel and world - class golf course . " Macdonald believed " , Henderson writes , " he had created a piece of Scotland for tourists in the New World " . And , as more tourists came , Macdonald ' s stature grew . Trade Union Act . The Nova Scotia legislature recognized the growing power of industrial unions in the 1930s by passing what historian Stephen Henderson calls " Canada ' s first piece of modern labour legislation " . Although Macdonald ' s governing Liberals and the opposition Conservatives agreed on the need to protect union rights , the parties vied with each other to take credit for the Trade Union Act . In January 1937 , Premier Macdonald carried a bottle of bootleg rum to a meeting with union officials in Sydney , Cape Breton where they gave him a draft bill based on the American National Labor Relations Act . Before the Macdonald government could introduce the bill in the legislature , the Conservatives presented a similar one of their own . The legislation faced opposition from the Canadian Manufacturers ' Association during public hearings , but Liberals and Conservatives combined to pass it unanimously . The new Trade Union Act required employers to bargain with any union chosen by a majority of their employees . It also prohibited employers from firing workers for organizing a union . Government patronage . Nova Scotia ' s well - entrenched system of paying off government supporters with jobs and contracts continued to flourish under the Macdonald Liberals . In his comprehensive history of Canadian patronage , journalist Jeffrey Simpson writes that the Liberals used road improvements to win votes , with highway crews " especially busy before and during election campaigns . " Simpson adds that the Liberals awarded government contracts to companies approved by the party . In return , the firms were required to kickback some of the money they received to the Liberals . Biographer Stephen Henderson argues that Macdonald himself did not relish the traditional practice of filling government jobs with party supporters . Nevertheless , the " wave of partisan hirings and firings " continued as committees in each riding " scrutinized employees for inappropriate political activity and rated prospective candidates based on what they or their families had done for the Liberal party " . Second term as premier , 1937 – 40 . Fortunately for the Macdonald government , economic conditions improved during the 1930s . In March 1937 , Macdonald announced that after 14 years of running operating deficits , the Nova Scotia government had recorded a surplus with another forecast for the next year . The pro - Liberal " Halifax Chronicle " gleefully described the scene in the legislature : " the House sat for a moment , as if not comprehending the good news , then rocked with acclaim , at least the Government side of the House did , though the opposition , stilled and stunned - like , sat like figures carved in stone " . Macdonald promised the government would spend another $ 7 . 5 million on its popular road paving program overseen by A . S . MacMillan , the veteran Minister of Highways . MacMillan , also Chairman of the Nova Scotia Power Commission , had been extending electrical service into rural areas . He now introduced a rural electrification bill designed to subsidize the cost of providing electricity . After these preparations , the premier called a provincial election for June 29 , 1937 . Macdonald campaigned on his government ' s record . On election day , his Liberals were rewarded with 25 of the 30 seats in the legislature . Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King had invited Macdonald to run for federal office during the general election of 1935 . Although Macdonald turned him down , there were strong rumours in 1937 that Macdonald would soon enter federal politics . Biographer Stephen Henderson writes however , that Macdonald wanted to remain as premier so he could present Nova Scotia ' s case to a Royal Commission on federal - provincial relations . Rowell - Sirois Commission . The Depression of the 1930s exposed glaring weaknesses in federal - provincial financial arrangements . Canada ' s poorer provinces found it impossible to cope with widespread poverty and hunger while the federal government resisted taking full responsibility for unemployment relief . By 1937 , conditions had become so desperate that the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan faced bankruptcy . Finally , in August 1937 , Prime Minister King appointed the Royal Commission on Dominion - Provincial Relations , popularly known as the Rowell - Sirois Commission . According to biographer Stephen Henderson , Macdonald played an important role in shaping the Commission ' s final recommendations . Macdonald wrote Nova Scotia ' s submission and presented it himself when the Commission held hearings in Halifax in February 1938 . He called on the federal government to take full responsibility for social programs such as unemployment insurance , old - age pensions and mothers ' allowances . Macdonald recommended that the federal government be given exclusive jurisdiction over income taxes and succession duties to pay for these programs . He argued however , that to maintain their independence , the provinces needed to collect indirect sources of revenue such as sales taxes . He also called for exclusive provincial control over such minor tax fields as gasoline and electricity taxes . A central part of Macdonald ' s case concerned the redistribution of wealth from richer provinces to poorer ones . His argument was based on the premise that richer provinces benefited from national economic policies such as high tariffs while poorer provinces were penalized by them . Macdonald suggested that compensatory subsidies to poorer , less - populated provinces be based on need , not population , so that they could pay for government services available in other parts of the country without having to impose higher - than - average levels of taxation . The Commission ' s final report , released in May 1940 , reflected many of Macdonald ' s recommendations . Mackenzie King called a federal - provincial conference in January 1941 to discuss the report . The provinces failed to agree on what should be done , but in April , the federal government went ahead on its own announcing it would levy steep taxes on personal and corporate incomes as a temporary measure to finance Canada ' s participation in the Second World War . Summons to Ottawa . The course of Macdonald ' s political career changed sharply after Canada declared war on Germany in September 1939 . Three months later , Mackenzie King called a federal election and on March 26 , 1940 , his Liberals won a decisive victory . In spite of his victory , King was under pressure to recruit the country ' s " best brains " into his wartime cabinet . The death of his minister of defence in an air crash in June 1940 gave King an opportunity to reorganize his administration . He asked J . L . Ralston , a native Nova Scotian , to become his new minister of defence . Ralston agreed but imposed two conditions : First that J . L . Ilsley of Nova Scotia replace him as minister of finance and second that he get assistance in his new portfolio . King decided to appoint two additional ministers , one in charge of the Royal Canadian Air Force , the other to oversee the Royal Canadian Navy . He therefore , asked Macdonald to join the federal cabinet as minister of national defence for naval services . Macdonald , who had fought in World War I as a soldier on the front lines in France and Belgium , decided it was his duty to fight World War II as a political leader in Ottawa . He handed over his responsibilities as premier to A . S . MacMillan and was sworn into the federal cabinet on July 12 , 1940 . Wartime federal career , 1940 – 45 . Macdonald ' s five years in Ottawa were tumultuous ones . He oversaw a massive increase in Canada ' s naval forces and played a key role in a political crisis that threatened to tear the Liberal government and the country apart . He also incurred the wrath of Mackenzie King , a political leader whom Macdonald grew to loathe . When he entered the federal cabinet in 1940 , Macdonald seemed a likely candidate to replace the aging King and one day become prime minister himself . By the time he resigned in 1945 , Macdonald ' s federal political career was in tatters . Mackenzie King wanted Macdonald to stand for a vacant seat in Kingston , Ontario . It was a traditional Conservative riding that had been represented by Sir John A . Macdonald , Canada ' s first prime minister . In 1935 however , the riding had switched to the Liberals and King wanted to keep it . " I told Mr . King that I did not know Kingston at all , nor its problems , nor its people " , Macdonald wrote later . When the Conservatives agreed not to run a candidate against him however , Macdonald had no choice but to stand for office in Kingston . He won the seat by acclamation on August 12 , 1940 . Building the navy . Macdonald faced a huge , but critical task in overseeing the expansion of the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN ) . As historian Desmond Morton points out , the RCN was tiny when Canada entered the war in 1939 . It consisted of six destroyers , five minesweepers and about 3 , 000 personnel in its regular forces and volunteer reserves . By the time Macdonald took office in 1940 , the RCN had grown to 100 ships and more than 7 , 000 personnel , but as biographer Stephen Henderson notes , " few of its ships and sailors were ready for service at sea " . By the end of the war , the RCN had expanded by 50 times its original strength with about 400 fighting ships , almost 500 additional craft and about 96 , 000 men and women . The RCN was assigned the task of escorting supply vessels transporting food and other materials needed to keep the war going . This convoy duty was critically important as German submarines or U - boat s sought to starve Britain into submission by sinking supply ships . The RCN performed about 40 percent of the war ' s transatlantic Allied escort duty . Desmond Morton argues it was Canada ' s " most decisive " military contribution . Canada ' s convoy protection efforts did not always run smoothly , however . In the early part of the war , the Canadian navy lacked equipment that could detect underwater submarines as well as efficient radar for sighting ones on the surface . To make matters worse , Canada didn ' t have the long - range aircraft that were the most effective anti - submarine weapons . As supply ship losses mounted , the RCN struggled to catch up to the better - equipped British and American navies . Macdonald himself lacked military expertise and often depended on senior naval staff who kept him in the dark about equipment shortages and other problems . " Macdonald ' s administration of Naval Affairs did not rise to brilliance " , Henderson writes , " [ but ] the problem may have lain more with the senior naval staff than with Macdonald " . Macdonald ' s conflict with high ranking naval officers , particularly Rear Admiral Percy W . Nelles , led to the effective dismissal of the latter in 1944 . Yet , as the war progressed , the RCN , led by Macdonald , gradually became more effective in protecting the huge cargoes of materials on which Allied victory depended . Conscription crisis . Biographer Stephen Henderson maintains that Macdonald played a key role in the wartime conscription crises that beset the federal government in 1942 , and again in 1944 , as Prime Minister Mackenzie King tried to avoid imposing compulsory military service overseas . Macdonald himself strongly favoured conscription rather than relying solely on voluntary enlistment . A committed internationalist , he believed it unfair that some bore the sacrifices of overseas service while others escaped what he saw as their military obligations . Macdonald realized however , that conscription was highly unpopular in French - speaking Quebec and that enforcing it would split the country at a time when national unity was crucial . He also recognized that in the early years of the war , voluntary enlistment was producing enough recruits to meet the needs of the armed forces . Nevertheless , Macdonald continued to push the government to commit itself to conscription if circumstances should change . His position earned him the enmity of the politically cautious Mackenzie King . " Macdonald is a very vain man " , the prime minister complained in his diary , " and has an exceptional opinion of himself . Undoubtedly , he came here expecting to possibly lead the Liberal party later on but has found that he will not be able to command the following that he expected " . As the opposition Conservatives continued to press for overseas conscription , the King government held a national plebiscite on April 27 , 1942 . The plebiscite asked voters to release the government from its previous promise not to introduce compulsory war service . The results confirmed the sharp national split . English Canada voted strongly in favour and French Canada overwhelmingly against . The results of the plebiscite seemed to strengthen the position of ministers who supported conscription . Macdonald ' s two cabinet colleagues from Nova Scotia , defence minister J . L . Ralston , and finance minister J . L . Ilsley , urged the government to introduce conscription immediately . A more cautious Macdonald wanted the government to commit itself to conscription should it be required to support the war effort . The crisis flared again two years later when the Canadian military called for overseas reinforcements . Ralston wanted King to impose conscription , but at Macdonald ' s urging , seemed willing to compromise by going along with the prime minister ' s plan for one last voluntary recruitment campaign . King however , suddenly dismissed Ralston during a cabinet meeting on November 1 , 1944 . Macdonald considered resigning , but said later he would have struck King if he had risen to leave . Instead he sat in his chair ripping sheets of notepaper into small shreds and dropping them on the floor . Stephen Henderson writes that Macdonald ' s decision not to resign probably saved the King government . King himself seemed to recognize that if Macdonald had left , Ilsley would have resigned too , possibly taking other ministers with him and causing the government ' s collapse . In the end , King was forced to impose overseas conscription after the failure of the voluntary recruitment campaign , but the war ended soon after and his government survived unscathed . The conscription crisis however , hardened the animosity between King and his naval minister . Macdonald , disillusioned by what he saw as the chicanery and ruthlessness of national politics , longed to return to Nova Scotia . After King called an election for June 11 , 1945 , Macdonald resigned from the federal cabinet . Provincial premier , 1945 – 54 . When Macdonald returned to Nova Scotia in 1945 , he was only 55 , but the silver - haired politician now seemed 20 years older . After the retirement of Premier A . S . MacMillan , the Liberals reaffirmed Macdonald ' s leadership at their convention on August 31 , 1945 . Less than two months later , Macdonald ' s Liberals swept the province wiping out the Conservatives for the first time since Confederation and winning all but two Cape Breton ridings where voters elected members of the Co - operative Commonwealth Federation or CCF , the forerunner of the present - day New Democratic Party , or NDP . In spite of his huge victory , a close colleague noted that Macdonald was not the same man he had been before he left Nova Scotia in 1940 . He had trouble making decisions , not because he was a procrastinator , but because he was not well . Nevertheless , Macdonald plunged into his role as a leading champion for the provinces . He argued that in order to maintain their independence , provinces needed exclusive jurisdiction over such sources of revenue as gasoline , electricity and amusement taxes . He lobbied for constitutional amendments designed to guarantee provincial rights . Macdonald urged the federal government to accept the 1940 recommendations of the Rowell - Sirois Commission and redistribute national wealth based on need . Such a policy , he maintained , would enable poorer provinces to sustain government services available in other parts of the country without having to impose higher - than - average levels of taxation . In the end , Macdonald won only small victories such as gaining exclusive provincial access to gasoline taxes . The federal government refused to recognize financial need as the basis for provincial subsidies . Aside from his role as a national spokesman for provincial rights , Macdonald presided over an administration that invested heavily in education . His government financed the building of rural high schools and extended financial assistance to Dalhousie University ' s schools of medicine and law . Macdonald also appointed Nova Scotia ' s first minister of education , Henry Hicks , in 1949 to oversee $ 7 . 6 million in spending , about a fifth of the provincial budget . The Macdonald Liberals easily won re - election in 1949 and 1953 , but the Conservatives made steady gains under Robert Stanfield , their new leader . The Conservatives for example , drew attention to kickback schemes under which brewing companies , wineries and distilleries contributed to the Liberal party in exchange for the right to sell their products in government liquor stores . The Liberals seemed secure against such allegations however , as long as they were led by the popular Angus L . Macdonald . However , Macdonald suffered a slight heart attack on April 11 , 1954 , and was admitted to hospital where he died in his sleep two nights later , just four months before his 64th birthday . Stephen Henderson writes that the Nova Scotia legislature sat on the day of his death . Macdonald ' s seat was draped in Clanranald tartan and a sprig of heather decorated his desk . Macdonald ' s body lay in state for three days in the legislative building as more than 100 , 000 people filed past to pay their respects . Aftermath of Macdonald ' s death . Macdonald ' s death proved disastrous for provincial Liberals . There was no obvious successor to the popular premier . At the party ' s leadership convention held on September 9 , 1954 , the Liberals appeared badly split along religious lines . After five ballots , the convention rejected Harold Connolly , a Roman Catholic who had served as interim premier after Macdonald ' s death . Instead they chose the Protestant Henry Hicks . " Unfortunately for the Liberals " , historian Murray Beck writes , " it appeared as if the delegates had ganged up to defeat the only Catholic among the contestants " . Beck also notes that " Nova Scotia governments have always been most vulnerable after a change in leadership " . In the next provincial election held on October 30 , 1956 , Robert Stanfield and his Conservatives won 24 seats , the Liberals 18 . The 23 - year Liberal era , begun under Macdonald ' s leadership , had finally ended . Assessment and legacy . Murray Beck writes that Macdonald ' s political appeal to Nova Scotians may have been even stronger than the legendary Joseph Howe ' s . Like Howe , Macdonald was a passionate and eloquent leader whose elegantly crafted speeches reflected his wit , wide learning and respect for factual accuracy . Beck writes that by scrupulously fulfilling his campaign promises , Macdonald became known as a leader who always kept his word . Macdonald ' s reputation as the premier who led the province out of the Great Depression rested on his commitment to ambitious government projects such as highway construction and rural electrification . He continued to support highway improvements throughout his career . Two projects that he pushed especially hard for , the Canso Causeway linking Cape Breton Island to mainland Nova Scotia and a suspension bridge spanning Halifax Harbour were completed after his death . The bridge , named in his honour , made it possible to travel between Halifax and Dartmouth without having to board a ferry or drive several kilometres around the Bedford Basin . Macdonald consistently called for a more equitable redistribution of wealth , so that poorer provinces such as Nova Scotia , could share fully in Canada ' s prosperity . Biographer Stephen Henderson writes that Macdonald deserves credit for the introduction , in 1957 , of an equalization scheme designed to enable poorer provinces to provide comparable levels of services to their citizens . Macdonald ' s advocacy of provincial autonomy however , fell victim to the centralizing tendencies of a post - war welfare state in which the federal government increasingly assumed greater control over national social programs . Throughout his life , Macdonald maintained ties to his alma mater , St . Francis Xavier University . He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from St . FX in 1946 . He served as honorary chair and fundraiser for the university ' s centennial celebrations in 1953 and raised money to support student research into the early history of the Scots in Nova Scotia . Macdonald suggested that the reading room in a new university library be called the " Hall of the Clans " . St . FX adopted the idea and decided to name the library in his honour . Thus , when the Angus L . Macdonald Library officially opened on July 17 , 1965 , 50 coats of arms representing both Scottish and Irish clans adorned the walls of its reading room .