R. Lorne MacDougall, LL.B. '43, QC

R. Lorne MacDougall is honoured as a true exemplar of the qualities recognized by the Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service.  His service with community organizations and on public bodies has had great impact on the lives of people in the area in which he lives, and throughout Nova Scotia and the other Maritime Provinces.

Lorne MacDougall received his LL.B. from Dalhousie Law School in 1943.  Tuberculosis contracted during his final year prevented service with the COTC and confined him to a sanatorium where he continued to study law on his own, maintaining an excellent academic record.  He articled at the Halifax firm of Stewart, Smith, McKeen & Rogers with the late Gordon S. Cowan, subsequently Chief Justice of the Trial Division, Nova Scotia Supreme Court.  In 1944 Lorne MacDougall joined Wilfred Burchell in the practice of law in Truro.  Today he practices as senior partner of the same firm, and is widely known, especially as a labour arbitrator.  In that work he is universally respected by labour, management, government and legal counsel for all parties.

During his long service with local organizations, Lorne MacDougall has participated in community efforts which have effected significant changes.  He has taken leadership roles in political, religious and community service organizations.  The construction of St. Mary’s School in Truro was a major project as, years later, was the negotiation of the integration of the school into the secular education system.  He has been president of a political riding association, a church society, The Rotary Club, The Community Concert Association, The Children’s Aid Society, Canadian National Institute for the Blind and The Canadian Arthritis and Rheumatism Society.  He has been a member of the boards of governors of St. Mary’s University and the Atlantic School of Theology.  As chairman of the Colchester Hospital Commission he was actively involved in every phase of fundraising and overseeing construction of the hospital, and again in recent years he chaired the fundraising activities of the Commission which enabled the construction of an addition.  The Pope made him a Knight of St. Gregory in 1958 for his religious and community activities.

Stabilization of the dairy industry in the Maritimes owes a great deal to the knowledge, experience, and dedication of Lorne MacDougall.  In 1966 he chaired a Royal Commission of inquiry into the milk industry in Nova Scotia and in 1971 a similar Royal Commission into the New Brunswick milk industry.  He was chairman of the New Brunswick Dairy Commission for five years and continuously chaired the Nova Scotia Dairy Commission from its inception in 1967 until 1988.

Elizabeth M. A. Grant and Lorne MacDougall married in 1945 and have two daughters, nine sons and nine grandchildren.  As busy as he has always been, he preserved time for his family and friends, enjoying what he sees as a quiet and ordinary life.

Professional and community service accomplishments of the highest level mark R. Lorne MacDougall a most honourable recipient of the Weldon Award.