John McCallum

John McCallum (born 9 April 1950) is a Canadian politician, economist, diplomat and former university professor.

McCallum was a professor of economics at the University of Manitoba from 1976 until 1978, Simon Fraser University from 1978 until 1982, the Université du Québec à Montréal from 1982 until 1987, and McGill University from 1987 until 1994.

He is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada, student.

He was also dean of the faculty of arts at McGill University, when his future boss, Justin Trudeau was a student there.

He then became senior vice-president and chief economist of the Royal Bank of Canada.

One of his most influential academic contributions was an article in the American Economic Review, which introduced the concept of the home bias in trade puzzle.

It has spawned an ongoing international debate on whether trade within a nation state is greater than trade among nations, as compared with the predictions of standard economic models.

As McGill University's dean of arts, McCallum secured a $10 million contribution from Charles Bronfman for the establishment of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.

He also participated in the national unity debates of the early 1990s, editing the Canada Round Series of the C. D. Howe Institute and engaging in debate with then Opposition Leader Jacques Parizeau at Quebec's National Assembly.

McCallum was the Royal Bank of Canada's chief economist for six years.

He consistently achieved the highest media coverage of bank chief economists, making regular appearances on CBC's The National as an economics panellist.

He also engaged in social issues, notably a 1997 Royal Bank conference designed to align the business community with the recommendations of the 1996 Report on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

His paper at that conference, "The Cost of Doing Nothing", was highlighted ten years later in the Aboriginal Times magazine.

A veteran federal politician who began his political career in 2000, McCallum has served in the governments of Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, and Justin Trudeau.

McCallum has previously been Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions), Minister of National Defence, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

McCallum was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Joan (Patteson) and Alexander Campbell McCallum.

He received his secondary education at Selwyn House School and Trinity College School.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens' College, Cambridge University, a diplôme d'études supérieures from Université de Paris I and a PhD degree in economics from McGill University.

He told the Edmonton Sun in August 2003, "If people want to do something and it doesn't hurt other people, doesn't reduce other people's rights, we should let them do it. Why not?"

He also significantly contributed to the final debate before the vote on same-sex marriage on 21 March 2005 saying:

I believe we should always seek to expand the rights of our fellow citizens as long as we do not thereby reduce the rights of others.

We should seek to ensure that no group is denied full participation in society.

As members of Parliament, we should not ask the question, why should we extend this right?

Rather our question should be, why should we not extend the right?

Let the burden of proof be on those who wish to limit fundamental rights.

... Many Canadians will want to accept both of these principles: protect the traditional definition of marriage and protect the rights of minorities.

The essence of my message today is that we cannot do both.

We cannot have it both ways.

We must make a choice between traditional marriage and the protection of minority rights.

As Defence Minister under Jean Chrétien, McCallum achieved what was then the largest increase in the annual defence budget ($1 billion) in more than a decade in return for offering up $200 million in savings from reducing low priority spending.

He also retroactively reversed an inequity which awarded up to $250,000 to military personnel who lost their eyesight or a limb while on active service - but only to those with the rank of colonel or above.

Now all Canadian Forces members are covered by the plan regardless of rank.

Working with Germany, he successfully persuaded NATO to take control over the security mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, while also ensuring that the mission was led by Canada.

A former Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), McCallum was the Canadian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2019.

He was asked for his resignation by Prime Minister Trudeau in 2019.

As an MP, he represented the electoral district of Markham—Thornhill, and had previously represented Markham—Unionville and Markham.

He is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

In July 2020, McCallum's employment by the Wailian Group, a Chinese company that assists with immigration to Canada, sparked calls from oppositions MPs and Democracy Watch for McCullum to be investigated by the Ethics Commissioner for potential breaches of the Conflict of Interest Act.

McCallum successfully nominated Nelson Mandela as the second honorary citizen in Canadian history.

McCallum was quite vocal in Canada's debate on same-sex marriage.