Allan MacEachen

Allan Joseph MacEachen, affectionately known as "the Laird of Mabou," was the son of a Gaelic-speaking Cape Breton coal miner. Educated at St. Francis Xavier University, the University of Toronto, and the London School of Economics, MacEachen entered Parliament in 1953, becoming the most brilliant parliamentary strategist in Canadian history.

Serving in key senior cabinet portfolios under Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, MacEachen shepherded the Canada Labour Code, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and the Medical Care Act into law. In 1977, Trudeau appointed him Canada's first official Deputy Prime Minister. He was an Officer of the Order of Canada.