Jack Austin (politician)

Austin was born in Calgary, Alberta. Prior to entering the Senate, Austin had careers as a lawyer and as a senior civil servant. He graduated from the University of British Columbia (BA, LLB) and Harvard Law School (LLM).[1] In the 1950s, Austin was a legal partner of Nathan Nemetz, who later served as chief justice of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Nemetz recruited Austin to join the Liberal Party.[2]

In the early 1960s, Austin's political career began when he served as executive assistant to Arthur Laing while he was Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources. While he was in Ottawa, Paul Martin Sr. asked him to serve on the legal team that negotiated the Columbia River Treaty on behalf of the government.[2]

Austin's only attempt to win an election was as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Kingsway in the 1965 federal election, at which time it was an open seat. He came second to Grace MacInnis, who held the constituency on behalf of the New Democratic Party.[2]

In 1970, he was appointed deputy minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and was part of the first Canadian trade mission sent to the People's Republic of China. He also played a key role in the establishment of Petro-Canada and Expo 86 in Vancouver.[2]

In 1974, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed Austin to be his chief of staff. In 1975, on Trudeau's recommendation, Governor General Jules Léger appointed him to the Senate. During Pierre Trudeau's final mandate as prime minister, Austin served as a Minister of State in the cabinet from 1981 to 1982 and then Minister of State for Social Development until Trudeau's retirement in 1984. He returned to the Cabinet of Canada in 2003 when Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed him Leader of the Government in the Senate, in which capacity he served until the Liberal defeat in the 2006 election. He took mandatory retirement from the Senate on March 2, 2007, his seventy-fifth birthday.

He received the Order of the Aztec Eagle from the Government of Mexico in 2000.[3] He was also inducted into the Order of British Columbia in 2010.

He has three daughters: Barbara, Edith and Sharon.

• Government of Canada Privy Council Office - Office of the Leader of the Government in the Senate
• Jack Austin – Parliament of Canada biography