Bill Morneau

The Honourable Bill Morneau PC MP
39th Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Joe Oliver
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Toronto Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Chrystia Freeland
Personal details
Born	William Francis Morneau October 7, 1962 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Nancy McCain
Relations	Eleanore A. Cronk (aunt)
Children	4
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Alma mater	University of Western Ontario London School of Economics European Institute of Business Administration

William Francis "Bill" Morneau PC MP (born October 7, 1962) is a Canadian politician and businessman, who was elected in the 2015 Canadian federal election as member of parliament for Toronto Centre. Morneau was executive chair of Canada’s largest human resources firm, Morneau Shepell, and the former chair of the C. D. Howe Institute. He has also been chair of the board at St. Michael's Hospital, and Covenant House.

Since November 4, 2015, he has been Canada's Minister of Finance.^[1]

Early career and personal life

Morneau's parents are William Francis "Frank" Morneau, Sr. who came from Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario and Helen (Lynch) Morneau who came from Adjala Township, Alliston, Ontario and their families had deep roots in both areas. Morneau was born in Toronto, where he attended Senator O'Connor College School. From 1981 to 1986, Morneau attended The University of Western Ontario and completed an Honours BA. During that time he also spent one year at University of Grenoble (France). He later went on to study at the London School of Economics (United Kingdom) and INSEAD (France) where he earned an M.Sc. (Econ.) and an MBA respectively.

Morneau lives in Toronto and has three children, Henry, Clare, and Edward with his wife Nancy McCain, a member of the New Brunswick family that owns McCain Foods.^[2] In 2010, he sponsored Grace Acan, a Grade 9 girl originally from Northern Uganda, she is considered part of the family and calls him "Dad."^[3]

Business career

Bill Morneau's father, Frank Morneau, founded the actuarial and benefit consulting firm W.F. Morneau & Associates in 1966. By 1985, the firm had grown to annual revenue of $5 million.^[4] Bill Morneau joined the company in 1987. Morneau held positions of increasing senority at his father's company including appointments as president in 1992, president and chief executive officer in 1998, and chair and chief executive officer in 2008.^[5]

As executive chair of Morneau Shepell, the largest Canadian human resources services organization with offices across North America, Morneau led the firm through a period of growth from approximately 200 employees in 1992 to almost 4000 in 2015. Under his leadership the firm has gone through several significant changes, including the acquisition of Sobeco from Ernst & Young in 1997, going public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2005, and the acquisition of Shepell-FGI in 2008.^[6]

Morneau Shepell provides over 20,000 organizations representing millions of Canadians with pension, employee benefit and employee assistance programs.^[7]

Morneau was appointed as pension investment advisor to the Ontario Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan in 2012, providing counsel aimed at facilitating the pooling of public-sector pension fund assets.^[8] In 2014, he was appointed by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to an expert panel led by former Prime Minister Paul Martin to recommend an Ontario pension supplement to the Canada Pension Plan.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Community involvement

Morneau served as the chair of the board at St. Michael's Hospital from 2009 to 2013, and as a board member from 2003 to 2013. He has also served on the board of St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation (2013–2015).

Previously, Morneau served as the chair of Covenant House (1997–2000), chair of the C.D. Howe Institute (2010–2014), and as a board member at AGF Management (2001–2014). He has volunteered as a board member for the Loran Scholars Foundation (2008-2015), the Art Gallery of Ontario Foundation (2004–2011), the Canadian Opera Company (2001–2010), Greenwood College (2012–2015), and the Toronto Zoo Foundation (2000–2004).^[13][14]

Politics

In June 2014, Morneau was nominated as the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for the newly configured riding of Toronto Centre. In December 2014, he was also appointed to serve on Justin Trudeau’s Economic Council of Advisors to provide the Liberal leader with advice on economic issues. Morneau was the federal Liberal candidate in Toronto Centre for the 2015 federal election.^[15] In the election, Morneau defeated the NDP's Linda McQuaig.^[16]

On November 4, 2015, Morneau was named by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Minister of Finance for Canada.^[17]

Other

From 2010 to 2014, Morneau served as Chair of the C.D. Howe Institute, a non-partisan policy analysis group. In 2014, Morneau resigned from C.D. Howe after making a speech at the 2014 Liberal convention.^[18]

In 2010, Morneau began leading an initiative with the UNHCR to open a secondary school for refugee girls in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. The school opened in 2014, and currently enrolls 340 girls.^[19]

Morneau is the co-author of The Real Retirement, an analysis of the context and the factors involved in helping Canadians plan for a successful retirement originally published in 2012.^[20]

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2015: Toronto Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Bill Morneau	29,297	57.90	+8.52	–
	New Democratic	Linda McQuaig	13,467	26.61	-9.69	–
	Conservative	Julian Di Battista	6,167	12.19	+3.56	–
	Green	Colin Biggin	1,315	2.60	-0.37	–
	Independent	Jordan Stone	147	0.29	–	–
	Communist	Mariam Ahmad	133	0.26	–	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Philip Fernandez	76	0.15	+0.03	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			50,602	100.0		$200,438.21
Total rejected ballots			266	–	–
Turnout			50,868	–	–
Eligible voters			66,351
Source: Elections Canada[21][22]

References

1. "Full list of Justin Trudeau's cabinet". CBC News, November 4, 2015.
2. Globensky, Manon (22 February 2014). "Qui seront ces nouveaux candidats que le Parti libéral fédéral convoite tant?". Radio Canada. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
3. Kuitenbrouwer, Peter (November 6, 2015). "A CEO, but not exactly a Bay Street guy: Bill Morneau's path to becoming Canada's finance minister". Financial Post. PostMedia. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
4. http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/a-ceo-but-not-exactly-a-bay-street-guy-how-bill-morneau-became-canadas-new-finance-minister
5. McKinnon et al, Top 40 Under 40. The Globe and Mail, April 26, 2002.
6. Morneau Shepell About Us Morneau Shepell
7. Morneau Shepell Declares July 2015 Cash Dividend. Canada NewsWire, July 21, 2015.
8. Ontario Appoints Advisor To Lead Pension Investment Reforms. Government of Ontario, May 30, 2012.
9. Office of the Premier (Jan 28 2014) Premier Announces Technical Advisory Group Ontario Government
10. Morrow, Adrian (December 18, 2013). Wynne stakes Ontario Liberals' fortunes on pledge for new pension plan by spring. The Globe and Mail.
11. Howlett, Karen (November 16, 2012). Pooling pension assets of public-sector workers in Ontario urged. The Globe and Mail.
12. Ontario Appoints Advisor To Lead Pension Investment Reforms. Ontario Ministry of Finance, May 30, 2012.
13. St. Michael’s Hospital: William Morneau, Chair of the Board of Directors. The Globe and Mail, July 20, 2009.
14. McGreggor, Glen (Feb 24, 2014). Bill Morneau resigns from C.D. Howe Institute after Liberal convention speech Ottawa Citizen.
15. Ivison, John (March 27, 2015). Executive tipped as Trudeau's pick for Finance would target wealthy to boost middle class. National Post.
16. Miller, Adam (20 October 2015). "Bill Morneau takes Toronto Centre for Liberal party". Global News. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
17. CBC News (November 4, 2015). Full list of Justin Trudeau's cabinet
18. "Bill Morneau resigns from C.D. Howe Institute after Liberal convention speech". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
19. "Morneau Shepell - UNHCR Corprate Partner". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
20. (Jun. 24, 2013) Morneau, Bill; Vettess, Fred What retirement crisis? Share the risk, bridge the gap Globe and Mail
21. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Toronto Centre, 30 September 2015
22. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates