Alexander John MacIntosh, BA, LL.B. '48, LL.D. (Hon), QC

Alexander John MacIntosh graduated from Dalhousie Law School with the Gold Medal in 1948.  He was admitted to the Ontario Bar the same year and joined the law firm now known as Blake Cassels and Graydon where he pursued a long and distinguished career.  He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1961.  Brock University and Dalhousie University granted him honourary L.L.D. degrees.

Born in Stellarton, Nova Scotia he joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve after completing his Dalhousie University B.A. in 1942.  At the war’s end he was a lieutenant when he left to begin legal studies at Dalhousie.  Alex and Elizabeth (Allen) were married in 1944 and they have a son, Donald, also a Dalhousie Law graduate.  Alex died 24 July, 1993, at 72 years. 

For more than a decade in the early years of practice he was a litigator, frequently with precedent-setting cases, before moving to the corporate counsel field.  His extensive litigation experience made him unique among Canada’s senior corporate lawyers.  Business law, particularly competition law, and libel law, were areas of recognized expertise.  He was sought after as a lecturer on legal issues in business, and throughout his career he contributed to the professional literature.

As a senior partner he was legendary for his advice and guidance to young lawyers in the firm.  Colleagues describe him as a courtroom lawyer at heart and one of the last great generalists.

In addition to his many directorships on the boards of major Canadian companies and newspapers, he was appointed to the boards of several public corporations:  the Bank of Canada, Lower Churchill Development Corporation and Ontario Hydro.  In 1984 he was named to the Ontario Task Force on Financial Institutions investigating the impact of growth and technological change in banks, trust and insurance companies, and investment dealers. 

Active in the Canadian political life, in the early 1980’s he was one of a group of economic advisors to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.  His extensive charitable work included the United Church, the Red Cross and as a trustee of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Charitable Foundation.  Concern for people in need drove Alex to set up one of the first Ontario storefront free legal aid clinics.  It was staffed by himself and other lawyers from the Blakes firm.  The community they served were new Canadians, most of them still learning to speak English.

Gratitude for the quality of his Dalhousie education made Alex a committed supporter and major benefactor of the Law School throughout his career.  He was a member of the Dalhousie University Board of Governors, and Branch President and Honourary President of the Dalhousie Law Alumni Association.  After the 1985 fire destroyed the Law Library, he was a leader in the great fundraising effort that built the new Sir James Dunn Law Library and renovated the Weldon Building.  He created and contributed to the MacIntosh Bursary and MacIntosh Research Fund at the Law School, and his leadership produced major funding support for the Indigenous Blacks and Mi’Kmaqs Program which is now named in his honour.  He was a great friend and advisor to Dalhousie Law School. 

 Alex MacIntosh is honoured here for his outstanding contributions in public and charitable service to the Canadian and Dalhousie communities. He is admired for his accomplishments in law and business, for his honesty and integrity, and the principled conduct of his life.  The 1993 Weldon Award honours him as a most worthy exemplar of its unselfish public service ideals.