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John MacLennan Buchanan
27th Premier of Nova Scotia
In office October 5, 1978 – September 11, 1990
Preceded by	Gerald Regan
Succeeded by	Roger Bacon
MLA for Halifax Atlantic
In office 1967 – September 11, 1990
Preceded by	new riding
Succeeded by	Robert Chisholm
Born	April 22, 1931 (1931-04-22) (age 78) Sydney, Nova Scotia
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse(s)	Mavis Buchanan

John MacLennan Buchanan, PC, QC (born April 22, 1931) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as Premier of Nova Scotia from 1978 to 1990 and as a member of the Senate of Canada from 1990 to 2006.

Buchanan was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He graduated from Mount Allison University in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science Degree and an Engineering Certificate. He then went on to study at Dalhousie Law School and after graduating in 1958 entered the practise of law where he was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1972.

He was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1967, and was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Public Works and Fisheries. He was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia in 1971, and became Premier of Nova Scotia in the 1978 provincial election. His highwater mark came in the 1984 election, when he led his party to victory, capturing 42 of the 52 seats in the legislature.

Buchanan played a large part in the constitution patriation as a member of the "Gang of Eight," and would play an even larger part as one of Brian Mulroney's top allies during the Meech Lake Accord negotiations. Controversy ensued when he said that the Atlantic Provinces would have no choice but to join the United States if Quebec left Canada over the failure of the Meech Lake Accord.^[1] He backtracked on his comments the next day after considerable outcry.^[2]

In 1990, he left provincial politics when he was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Mulroney. This was highly unpopular in most of the country, as Buchanan was under investigation for corruption charges; the appointment was part of a large influx of appointments for the upcoming Goods and Services Tax vote. The Ottawa Citizen called the appointment "the Mulroney government's most contemptuous and appalling act of patronage."

Buchanan sat as a Progressive Conservative senator until 2004, when the party merged with the Canadian Alliance. He sat as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada from 2004 until his retirement at age 75 on April 22, 2006.

He married Mavis Forsyth in September 1954, and they had five children: Murdoch, Travis, Nicola, Natalie and Natasha Buchanan.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Parliament of Canada profile