Hugh Segal

Early Life and Education

Hugh Segal grew up poor in in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood in the 1950s and 1960s. At the time, the area was occupied mainly by working-class Jewish and European immigrants. His father, Morris, was often unemployed. His mother, Sadye, kept the family afloat by working at an all-night drug store. Segal recounted that his family’s financial situation was often precarious. On separate occasions, bailiffs came to repossess the family car and the family’s furniture. It was thanks to the help of relatives that Segal was able to get a quality education.

Segal decided to dedicate his life to public service after Prime Minister John Diefenbaker visited his school to talk about his Canadian Bill of Rights. Segal committed himself to the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party based on this visit by Diefenbaker. He was impressed with Diefenbaker’s description of Canada as an open and free democracy where people lived under the presumption of innocence. Segal announced his support for the prime minister at the dinner table that same night. This displeased his father, who had worked as a Liberal campaign manager.

Segal went on to study history at the University of Ottawa. He became an aid to PC Party leader Robert Stanfield. Segal contested both the 1972 and 1974 federal elections as a Tory candidate for the Ottawa Centre riding. He lost both times. But his appetite for politics was not diminished.

Career in Politics

Having twice run for office and with strong connections to the progressive conservative movement in Canada, Hugh Segal made a name for himself as principal secretary and associate secretary of cabinet to Bill Davis, premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. During the tense constitutional negotiations of 1980–82, Segal was Davis’s right hand man. (See Patriation of the Constitution.) Former John Tory succeeded Segal as Davis’s secretary. He recollected that Segal was as brilliant as he was funny.

Segal left politics in 1983 for a career in marketing and advertising. He remained a popular pundit and commentator on Canadian politics. Well-known and well-liked, he was made Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s chief of staff. The country was once again enmeshed in complex and often acrimonious debates regarding the Charlottetown Accord and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Segal’s affable personality and penchant for problem solving were well appreciated.

Segal contested the Progressive Conservative Party leadership in 1998. He finished second behind former prime minister Joe Clark. Segal was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Liberal prime minister Paul Martin in 2005. Martin commented that Segal was nearly universally well-liked, and that he had a “sharp wit and a keen mind.” During his time in the Senate, Segal was chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism.

Throughout his political career, Segal often championed causes that were not popular with rank-and-file conservatives. He was a champion of the underdog and advocated for civil liberties, even when it wasn’t popular or politically opportune to do so. This included advocating for official bilingualism and supporting the rights of gay men in Ontario.

Career as Administrator and Academic

Hugh Segal served in the Senate until 2014 when he became head of the University of Toronto’s elite graduate institution, Massey College. He was president of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), a Montreal-based think tank, and was both a professor and administrator at Queen’s University. He was a distinguished fellow at Queen’s School of Policy Studies and the director of the Centre for International and Defence Policy. He was also chair of the School of Policy Studies External Advisory Board, as well as a director and instructor at Queen’s Public Executive Program. Segal was also a senior strategic advisor with the law firm Aird & Berlis LLP and a distinguished fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs.

Universal Basic Income

Hugh Segal’s experience with childhood poverty stayed with him throughout his life. In his political career, he advocated for a universal basic income (also called basic annual income or guaranteed annual income) to lift people out of poverty. The last book Segal wrote was called Bootstraps Need Boots: One Tory’s Lonely Fight to End Poverty in Canada (2019). It reflected his belief that the very poor cannot free themselves from poverty without assistance.

Segal was a notable conservative advocate for a basic annual income program for all Canadians He first developed an interest in the idea when he was a university student and championed its cause while he was a senator. However, his dream was only partly realized. Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne asked Segal to advise her on the development of a universal basic income pilot project. It was launched in 2017 and benefitted 4,000 Ontarians living in Hamilton, Lindsay, and Thunder Bay. Though some research has indicated that the project was a success, it was cancelled by Conservative premier Doug Ford shortly after he took office in 2018. Segal was deeply disappointment by the cancellation of the program and expressed embarrassment at being associated with the party that killed it.

Honours and Awards

Hugh Segal was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003. His commitment to enhancing the quality of public political debate, as well as his philanthropic work, were noted in his investiture.

In 2014, Segal received the Churchill Society’s Award for Excellence in the Cause of Parliamentary Democracy. In 2015, he received the Vimy Award for service to democracy, defence and national security from the Conference of Defence Associations Institute. He was also an honorary captain in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Segal was promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada in 2016. His promotion was based on his service as chair of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee, where he was recognized for helping to modernize Canada’s international development assistance program and for his expertise in national security issues. He was also lauded for his work as a human rights monitor and for his commitment to public service. He was also appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2016. He received honorary degrees from Queen’s University, the University of Ottawa and the Royal Military College of Canada.