Jacob "Jack" Austin, PC (born March 2, 1932 in Calgary, Alberta) is a former Canadian politician and former member of the Canadian Senate. He was appointed to the upper house by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on August 8, 1975 and represents British Columbia. At the time of his retirement he was the longest serving member of the Upper House.
He served as a Minister of State in the cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1981 to 1982 and then...
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Jacob "Jack" Austin, PC (born March 2, 1932 in Calgary, Alberta) is a former Canadian politician and former member of the Canadian Senate. He was appointed to the upper house by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on August 8, 1975 and represents British Columbia. At the time of his retirement he was the longest serving member of the Upper House.
He served as a Minister of State in the cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1981 to 1982 and then Minister of State for Social Development until Trudeau's retirement in 1984. He returned to the Canadian Cabinet in 2003 when Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed him Leader of the Government in the Senate, where he served until the Liberal defeat in the 2006 election. He reached the age of 75 on March 2, 2007, and is retired from the senate.
Prior to entering the Senate, Austin had careers as a lawyer and then as a senior civil servant.
In the 1950s, Austin was a legal partner of Nathan Nemetz who later served as Chief Justice of British...
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