Preceded by Roland Patterson | Occupation physician Name Mac Phillips | |
Born April 9, 1889
Dundalk, Ontario ( 1889-04-09 ) Died June 14, 1963(1963-06-14) (aged 64)
Owen Sound, Ontario Political party Ontario Progressive Conservative Party | ||
Succeeded by Edward Carson Sargent | ||
Mackinnon "Mac" Phillips (December 9, 1898 – June 14, 1963) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1945 to 1963 who represented the central Ontario riding of Grey North. He served as cabinet minister in the government of Leslie Frost.
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Background
Phillips was born in Dundalk, Ontario. He served in World War I with the 45th battery of the Royal Canadian Artillery. He graduated from the University of Toronto and began work as a physician in the Owen Sound, Ontario area. In 1926, he married Karla MacKay of Fort William. Together they raised two children. He died of a heart attack on June 14, 1963.
Politics
In the 1945 provincial election, Phillips ran as the PC candidate in the riding of Grey North. He defeated Liberal Roland Patterson by 558 votes. He was re-elected four more times before his death in 1963. On August 8, 1950, Phillips was appointed as Minister of Health replacing Russell Kelley who was in ill-health. He stayed in this portfolio through much of the 1950s. He was responsible for helping to organize the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, instituting a program to certify nurse's assistants and laying the foundation for the province's mental health hospitals. On December 22, 1958 he was shuffled to Provincial Secretary and Registrar.
On January 26, 1960, Phillips was involved in an automobile accident. At the intersection of Castlefield Avenue and Yonge Street, he crashed into the rear of a car stopped at the light. He drove away without stopping. The female driver was left unconscious in her wrecked car. He was charged with leaving the scene of the accident and he eventually pleaded guilty and received a $200 fine. He claimed that he was in ill-health and not drunk, a claim that was disputed by the arresting officer. As a result of the incident, Phillips resigned from cabinet.