During his time as an MP he held various positions including Chair of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans,Chair of the Atlantic Liberal Caucus and Chair of the Caucus Committee on Political Organization. MacDonald was also vice-chair of the Standing Committee of Consumer and Corporate affairs and Government Operations.
In 1996 he was appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada as Parliamentary Secretary of International Trade. He also served as the executive director of the Nova Scotia Liberal Association.
MacDonald won the Dartmouth electoral district for the Liberal party in the 1988[1] and 1993 Federal elections. After serving in the 34th and 35th Canadian Parliaments,MacDonald left federal politics in 1997 and did not seek re-election.[2]
Prior to his election to the Canadian Parliament,he served for 2 years as the Special Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada,as well as serving as Chief of Staff to leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada.
He moved to British Columbia,and from 1997 to 2002 was president and CEO of the Council of Forest Industries,the largest lumber manufacturing,grading and marketing group in Canada. During that time he became one of the founding members and Director of Canada Wood,which developed wood markets in China,Korea,India and Japan. From 2003 to 2006 he was also Advisor,International Market Development to the President and CEO of Canfor Ltd.,at the time Canada's largest lumber manufacturer.
MacDonald served as Executive Chairman of Critical Elements Corporation,where he is overseeing the development of joint-venture and long-term supply opportunities as well as financing strategies for their Lithium and tantalum property in Northern Quebec. He was also Executive Chairman of American Vanadium Corporation which is developing a vanadium property in Nevada,and Executive Chairman of Canada Strategic Metals which has one of the largest Graphite portfolios in North America.
Prior to joining Critical Elements and American Vanadium,MacDonald formed and is president and CEO of Cansource International;a natural resource focused international marketing and strategic management consultancy. MacDonald has been a member to the OECD Committee which developed international guidelines concerning the use of conflict minerals. He also participated on the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition committee developing guidelines for their global tantalum smelter verification program and has also been a contributor to the EU Commission 'Framework 7' policy paper on 'Scarcity of Strategic Minerals'. MacDonald is a presenter at conferences in North America,Europe and Asia on the criticality of resources deemed strategic for high tech,green energy and the rapidly evolving grid level mass storage and electric vehicle battery industries.
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