Darcy McKeough

Born in Chatham, Ontario and educated at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Canada. After which received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1954.

From 1960 to 1961 and 1962 to 1963, McKeough was a member of the Chatham City Council.

In the 1963 provincial election, McKeough ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the southwestern Ontario riding of Kent West. He defeated Liberal candidate G.R. Newkirk by 1,739 votes.{{cite news |author= |title=78 in Tory Blue Wave -- 23 Is All Grits Save |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=September 26, 1963 |location=Windsor, Ontario, Canada |page=25 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QDM_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=T1EMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6134%2C3886120}} In 1967, he ran in the new riding of Chatham—Kent and defeated Liberal Tom Henry by 1,291 votes.{{cite news |author= |title=Tories win, but... |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=October 18, 1967 |location=Windsor, Ontario, Canada |page=B2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TDM_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=VVEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3673%2C2835192}} He was re-elected in 1971, 1975 and 1977.{{cite news |title=Riding-by-riding returns in provincial election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=October 23, 1971 |page=10}}{{cite news |title=Table of vote results for all Ontario ridings |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=September 19, 1975 |page=C12}}{{cite news |title=Ontario provincial election results riding by riding |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=June 10, 1977 |page=D9}}

In 1966, McKeough was appointed to cabinet as a Minister without portfolio by Premier John Robarts.{{cite news |title=Five added to Cabinet by Robarts |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=November 25, 1966 |page=1}} In 1967 he was promoted to Minister of Municipal Affairs after the previous minister, Wilf Spooner was defeated in the 1967 election.{{cite news |title=Just one new member is shuffled into Robarts Cabinet |last=Dafoe |first=John |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=November 24, 1967 |page=8}} Among other things, he introduced legislation to create the city of Thunder Bay in Northern Ontario by an amalgamation of existing municipalities.{{cite news |title=Two Lakehead cities will be joined Jan. 1, McKeough announces |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=January 28, 1969 |page=1}}

In 1971, McKeough entered the leadership race to replace Robarts who retired in December 1970.{{cite news |title=Robarts resigning as Premier; Davis considered leading contender |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=December 9, 1970 |page=1}} He was viewed as a compromise candidate between front runner Bill Davis and contender Allan Lawrence.{{cite news |title=McKeough designates himself compromise choice |last=Newman |first=Donald |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=February 12, 1971 |page=8}} He placed third in the contest which was won by Davis. After McKeough dropped out he endorsed Davis which was seen as a key move in Davis's narrow victory.{{cite news |title=Beats Lawrence by 44 votes: Davis New Ontario PC Leader: McKeough aid a key factor |last=Munro |first=Ross H. |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=February 13, 1971 |page=1}} In return, Davis appointed McKeough to the senior cabinet post of Treasurer of Ontario and Minister of Economics.{{cite news |title=Changes in policies promised: Davis priorities to include environment and jobless |last1=Manthorpe |first1=Jonathan |last2=Slinger |first2=John |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=March 2, 1971 |page=1}}

In September 1972, McKeough resigned from cabinet when it was revealed in a story by The Globe and Mail that he was involved in a conflict of interest when, as Minister of Municipal Affairs, his ministry had approved a housing development in which he was financially involved.{{cite news |title=McKeough approved subdivision of land he had financial interest in |first=John |last=Zaritzky |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=August 28, 1972 |page=1}} In his resignation announcement, McKeough claimed he had done nothing wrong but felt that he could no longer continue in his position when his credibility would be continually questioned.{{cite news |title='Satisfied I have personally done nothing wrong,' McKeough resigns from Cabinet |first=jonathan |last=Manthorpe |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=September 1, 1972 |page=3}}

In 1973, McKeough was returned to cabinet as Minister of Energy.{{cite news |title=McKeough back in Cabinet as new Minister of Energy |last=Webster |first=Norman |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=July 5, 1973 |page=5}} In January 1975, he was restored to the posts of Treasurer and Minister of Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs.{{cite news |title=2 ministers plagued by recent illnesses to take on new Cabinet responsibilities |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=January 15, 1975 |page=31}} In August 1978 he retired from politics.{{cite news |title=Brash Darcy McKeough seeks 'something new' with room at the top |last=Oziewicz |first=Stan |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=August 17, 1978 |page=5}}

After leaving political office in 1978, McKeough returned to the private sector and has had a number of positions, particularly in the energy sector. In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his "successful business ventures and fund-raising efforts on behalf of educational, medical, research and cultural institutions".{{cite news |title=15 Torontonians among 80 named to Order of Canada |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=January 7, 1994 |page=A12}}

McKeough died from complications of pneumonia on November 29, 2023, at the age of 90.{{cite news |url=https://www.tvo.org/article/remembering-darcy-mckeough-ontarios-minister-of-everything |title=Remembering Darcy McKeough, Ontario's 'minister of everything' |date=November 30, 2023 |last=Paikin |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Paikin |publisher=TVO |access-date=December 2, 2023}}

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Category:1933 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:Businesspeople from Ontario

Category:Ministers of finance of Ontario

Category:Officers of the Order of Canada

Category:Politicians from Chatham-Kent

Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs

Category:Ridley College alumni

Category:University of Western Ontario alumni

Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario