Albert Wesley Johnson

For other people named Albert Johnson, see Albert Johnson (disambiguation).
Albert Wesley Johnson
CC
Johnson in 2006
Born(1923-10-18)October 18, 1923
Insinger, Saskatchewan, Canada
DiedNovember 9, 2010(2010-11-09) (aged 87)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Harvard University
Occupations
  • Civil servant
  • professor
AwardsOrder of Canada

Albert Wesley "Al" Johnson CC (October 18, 1923 – November 9, 2010) was a Canadian civil servant, a former president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and an author.[1]

Born in Insinger, Saskatchewan, Johnson received a Master's in public administration (MPA) from the University of Toronto and an MPA and a PhD from Harvard University. He was deputy treasurer of Saskatchewan from 1952 until 1964. He was one of the key figures in the development of universal medicare, first in Saskatchewan in the governments of Premier Tommy Douglas and Premier Woodrow Lloyd and subsequently at the national level.[2] In 1964, he became assistant deputy minister of finance for the federal government. From 1975 until 1982, he was president of the CBC. He subsequently taught at Queen's University and the University of Toronto.[1]

Albert Wesley Johnson ca. 1950, photograph by Myrtle E. Hardy.

In 1980, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1996 in recognition of his "outstanding career as a public servant, university professor and consultant on post-secondary education, social policy and public management both nationally and internationally".[3]

Johnson wrote the 2004 book Dream No Little Dreams, A Biography of the Douglas Government of Saskatchewan, 1944–1961 (ISBN 0-8020-8633-0)[1] for which he was awarded the Canadian Political Science Association's Donald Smiley Prize in 2005.[4]

After leaving the federal civil service he embarked on an international career:[5]

  • Special Advisor on National Provincial Fiscal Arrangements for the International Monetary Fund 1988
  • Head of Mission on Administrative Modernization for the Canadian International Development Agency 1991
  • Senior advisor to South Africa/Canada Program on Governance 1992
  • Commissioner of South Africa's Presidential Review Commission on the Public Service 1996

Returning to Canada in 1999, Johnson became special chair in public policy to the Government of Saskatchewan.[5]

Johnson died in Ottawa at age 87. He was survived by his wife, Ruth (née Hardy), whom he married in 1946, four children and one granddaughter.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Elizabeth Lumley (2004). Canadian Who's Who. University of Toronto Press.
  2. ^ "Making Medicare".
  3. ^ "Order of Canada citation". 11 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Donald Smiley Prize". Canadian Political Science Association. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Andrew T.W. "About Al Johnson - Biography". Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  6. ^ "Former CBC president Al Johnson dies". CBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2016.