About David Collenette
David Michael Collenette, PC OOnt (born 24 June 1946) is a former Canadian politician. From 1974, until his retirement from politics in 2004, he was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. A graduate from York University's Glendon College in 1969, he subsequently received his MA, in 2004 and LL.D for education in 2015 from the same university. He was first elected in the York East riding of Toronto to the House of Commons on 8 July 1974, in the Pierre Trudeau government and returned to Parliament in 1993 representing Don Valley East. Collenette served as a Member of the Canadian House of Commons for more than 20 years. He was elected five times and defeated twice. He served in the Cabinet under three prime ministers - Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, and Jean Chrétien. He held several portfolios: Minister of State-Multiculturalism (1983–1984); Minister of National Defence (1993–1996); Minister of Veterans Affairs (1993–1996); Minister of Transport (1997–2003) and Minister of Crown Corporations (2002–2003). During the constitutional debates of the early 1980s, he served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House leader and was assigned by the government to Westminster to represent Canada's interests. He served as Chair of the House of Commons Special Energy Committee in 1982–83 dealing with legislation for the national energy program (NEP). As Collenette was considered a staunch Chrétien loyalist it was not surprising that he was dropped from cabinet when Martin became prime minister in December 2003.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.