Arnold Heeney

Heeney, Arnold Danford Patrick

Arnold Danford Patrick Heeney, public servant, diplomat (b at Montréal 5 Apr 1902; d at Ottawa 20 Dec 1970). A clergyman's son, he was educated at the University of Manitoba and Oxford. A successful lawyer in Montréal, he was invited to become principal secretary to Prime Minister Mackenzie King in 1938. Two years later he was named clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet. He organized the work of the Cabinet War Committee, the key ministers, and made his office a clearing point for information and advice. In 1949 he became undersecretary of state for external affairs. He then served as ambassador to NATO, twice in Washington and as chairman of the Civil Service Commission. Until shortly before his death, he was Canadian head of the International Joint Commission and the Permanent Joint Board on Defence.