Birthday profile

Michael Wilson (Canadian politician)

Michael Wilson, Canadian academic and politician, 31st Canadian Minister of Finance (died 2019)

Born
November 4, 1937
Died
February 10, 2019
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1937

About Michael Wilson (Canadian politician)

Michael Holcombe Wilson (November 4, 1937 – February 10, 2019) was a Canadian businessman, politician and diplomat who served as minister of finance from 1984 to 1991 and minister of international trade from 1991 to 1993 under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Wilson was a Bay Street investment executive before he was elected to the House of Commons in 1979. He then unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1983 before being appointed to Prime Minister Mulroney's cabinet. As a cabinet minister, Wilson introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and helped negotiate the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Wilson retired from politics in 1993 and returned back to Bay Street, heading his own consulting and financial services firm. Wilson served as the Chairman of Barclays Capital Canada Inc. from May 2010 until his death in February 2019. He was the Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2006 until 2009 and the Chancellor of the University of Toronto from 2012 to 2018. In that election, the PCs led by Joe Clark won a minority government. In 1998, he founded the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addictions and Mental Health with Bill Wilkerson.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Michael Wilson (Canadian politician) was born

Michael Wilson (Canadian politician) was born in 1937. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1937

  • #1 song"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – Ella Fitzgerald
  • Top movieSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  • Best-selling bookOf Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJoe Louis becomes heavyweight champion
  • Top headlineHindenburg zeppelin explodes in New Jersey
  • Technology milestoneGolden Gate Bridge opens in San Francisco
  • Defining fadSwing music
  • Notable inventionShopping cart
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.8M

1937 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael Wilson (Canadian politician)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19372026
Gas$0.20$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$3,000$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.