Donald Fleming
Canadian politician
title: "Donald Fleming" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1905-births", "1986-deaths", "20th-century-canadian-lawyers", "20th-century-members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada", "ministers-of-finance-of-canada", "lawyers-in-ontario", "members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada-from-ontario", "members-of-the-king's-privy-council-for-canada", "members-of-the-united-church-of-canada", "progressive-conservative-party-of-canada-mps", "progressive-conservative-party-of-canada-leadership-candidates"] description: "Canadian politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Fleming" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Canadian politician ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox CanadianMP"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific_prefix | The Honourable |
| name | Donald Fleming |
| honorific_suffix | |
| birth_name | Donald Methuen Fleming |
| image | Donald Fleming.jpg |
| office1 | Minister of Justice |
| term_start1 | August 9, 1962 |
| term_end1 | April 21, 1963 |
| primeminister1 | John Diefenbaker |
| predecessor1 | Davie Fulton |
| successor1 | Lionel Chevrier |
| office2 | Minister of Finance |
| term_start2 | June 21, 1957 |
| term_end2 | August 8, 1962 |
| primeminister2 | John Diefenbaker |
| predecessor2 | Walter Harris |
| successor2 | George Nowlan |
| parliament3 | Canadian |
| riding3 | Eglinton |
| term_start3 | June 11, 1945 |
| term_end3 | April 7, 1963 |
| predecessor3 | Frederick Hoblitzell |
| successor3 | Mitchell Sharp |
| party | Progressive Conservative |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Exeter, Ontario, Canada |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| :: |
| honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Donald Fleming | honorific_suffix = | birth_name = Donald Methuen Fleming | image = Donald Fleming.jpg | caption = | office1 = Minister of Justice | term_start1 = August 9, 1962 | term_end1 = April 21, 1963 | primeminister1 = John Diefenbaker | predecessor1 = Davie Fulton | successor1 = Lionel Chevrier | office2 = Minister of Finance | term_start2 = June 21, 1957 | term_end2 = August 8, 1962 | primeminister2 = John Diefenbaker | predecessor2 = Walter Harris | successor2 = George Nowlan | parliament3 = Canadian | riding3 = Eglinton | term_start3 = June 11, 1945 | term_end3 = April 7, 1963 | predecessor3 = Frederick Hoblitzell | successor3 = Mitchell Sharp | party = Progressive Conservative | birth_date = | birth_place = Exeter, Ontario, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | spouse =
Donald Methuen Fleming, (May 23, 1905 – December 31, 1986) was a Canadian parliamentarian, International Monetary Fund official and lawyer, born in Exeter, Ontario, Canada.
Biography
Fleming was born in Exeter, Ontario, in 1905. He was educated at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1945 general election as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Toronto riding of Eglinton. In 1948, he was a candidate in that year's Progressive Conservative leadership convention, losing to George Drew. He ran for the leadership again in the 1956 leadership convention, losing to John Diefenbaker.
The Speaker expelled Fleming from the House of Commons during the 1956 Pipeline Debate that helped lead to the defeat of the Liberal government of Louis St. Laurent in the 1957 general election.
Diefenbaker became the new prime minister and appointed Fleming to the cabinet as Minister of Finance. As finance minister, Fleming clashed with the governor of the Bank of Canada, James Coyne, over monetary policy and ultimately demanded and got Coyne's resignation in 1961. In 1962, Fleming became the Attorney General of Canada before retiring from politics in 1963.
Fleming returned to politics to seek the PC Party leadership at the 1967 leadership convention for a third time, but came in seventh, and left political life for good.
In later life, he was Governor of the World Bank, an International Monetary Fund official and Chairman of the Bank of Nova Scotia.
Personal life
Fleming married Alice Watson in 1933, and they had three children. He was a devout Christian, and was an elder of the Bloor Street United Church in Toronto.
Fleming died in Toronto from a stroke on December 31, 1986, at the age of 81.
Archives
There is a Donald Methuen Fleming fonds at Library and Archives Canada.
References
References
- (January 3, 1987). "''Donald Fleming Dies; Ex-Canadian Official''". New York Times, pg.8.
- (January 1, 1987). "Don Fleming, 81, was former cabinet minister". [[Toronto Star]].
- "Donald Methuen Fleming fonds, Library and Archives Canada".
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