Hugh Segal was born October 13, 1950 in Montreal, Quebec. Hugh began his political activity in the 1963 general election in his then home riding of Mount Royal as a youth canvasser for the Progressive Conservative (P.C.) federal candidate. He headed the Conservative Party in his high school model Parliament, and was an active member of the University of Ottawa P.C. Club between 1968 and 1972. While at university, Hugh was elected Student Government President and served subsequently as research assistant to David MacDonald, then M.P. from Egmont, P.E.I. In 1971, he was elected National Vice-President of the P.C. Youth Federation of Canada, serving on the Party's National Executive and Policy Coordinating Committees.
Hugh Segal was nominated as the P.C. candidate in the federal riding of Ottawa Centre, standing for Parliament at the age of 21 and 23 in the elections of 1972 and 1974 under the Hon. Robert L. Stanfield. Unsuccesful in his campaign Hugh Segal joined Mr. Stanfield's staff as Legislative Assistant serving there through to the election of 1974. He was appointed Director of Communications and Planning at the P.C. National Headquarters following that election.
In 1975, Hugh Segal was appointed Provincial Campaign Secretary for the Ontario P.C. Party. Following the election, he joined Mr. Davis's staff as Legislative and Principal Secretary through the 1977 general election. In 1977, he joined John Labbatt Limited in London, Ontario, where he served as Director of Corporate Affairs. In 1979, he returned to the public sector as Secretary to the Policy and Priorites Board of cabinet - the youngest Deputy Minister in the province. After the 1981 general election saw the return of the Davis government, Hugh Segal was appointed Associate Secretary of Cabinet for Federal Provincial Relations, with specific responsibility for energy and constitutional negotiations.
In 1982, Hugh Segal left government to become Executive Vice-President of TACT Incorporated, a Canadian communications company with activities in corporate strategy planning, advertising, public affairs and media. In 1985 he bought TACT Inc. and became Chairman and CEO of the company.
Throughout the 1980's Hugh Segal continued to play a large role in the P.C. Party though largely in a voluntary capacity; it is difficult to find a P.C. federal or Ontario provincial campaign in which Hugh Segal did not play a part.
In 1991, Hugh Segal divested his commercial interests in TACT Inc, and joined the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) as Senior Policy Advisor. In 1992, he became Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
After leaving the PMO in 1993, Hugh Segal became an Ivey Fellow and Chair in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University. In 1994 Hugh Segal also rejoined the private sector becoming an Associate at Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc. in Toronto where he was responsible for counsel on regulatory issues and regulated industries until 1999. While retaining his position in Policy Studies at Queen's University, Hugh also joined Queen's School of Business staff as a Professor of Public Policy in 1997.
In 1998, Hugh Segal re-entered politics by running in the P.C. Party leadership race. Hugh Segal was first ballot runner-up in a five candidate field.
In 1999 Hugh Segal was appointed President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), Canada's oldest, non-partisan, public policy think-tank, based in Montreal.
He is a director of various companies in the private sector, Chair of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and a Governor of Kingston General Hospital. In 2003, he was awarded the Order of Canada and holds a Doctorate in Law (honoris causa) from the Royal Military College of Canada. In 2005 Segal was appointed to the Senate by then Prime Minister Paul Martin; he sits in the Senate as a Conservative Party member.
In addition to all of the official positions held by Hugh Segal, he is also a former columnist for The Toronto Star and the Financial Post and network panelist on CTV, CBC and PBS. He has authored three books on politics and public policy: No Surrender (Harper and Collins, 1994), Beyond Greed (Stoddart, 1998) and In Defence of Civility (Stoddart, 1999) and co-authored two books on the same topic: No Small Measure (Deneau, 1982) and Election: Strategies, Issues and Tactics (Prentice Hall, 1988).
Hugh Segal is married to Donna Armstrong of Kingston, Ontario. They have one daughter, Jacqueline.
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