Researching Angus Macdonald

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.

Angus comes from a strong rugby bloodline as his father Hamish Macdonald and his uncle Doug Bruce played for the All Blacks, while another uncle Roddy Macdonald played for Northland and his brother was a Canterbury Colt.

Macdonald signed for Glasgow Warriors for the season 2012–13 in a two-year deal. While with the provincial Glasgow club he was affiliated to Aberdeen GSFP RFC. He retired from rugby union due to a neck injury in February 2013. He played 4 games for the Pro12 club.