The Honourable John McCallum PC
McCallum in 2016
Canadian Ambassador to China
In office 18 March 2017 – 26 January 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Guy Saint-Jacques
Succeeded by	Dominic Barton
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
In office 4 November 2015 – 10 January 2017
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Chris Alexander
Succeeded by	Ahmed Hussen
Minister of National Revenue
In office 19 July 2004 – 5 February 2006
Prime Minister	Paul Martin
Preceded by	Stan Keyes
Succeeded by	Carol Skelton
Minister of Veterans Affairs
In office 12 December 2003 – 19 July 2004
Prime Minister	Paul Martin
Preceded by	Rey Pagtakhan
Succeeded by	Albina Guarnieri
Minister of National Defence
In office 26 May 2002 – 11 December 2003
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	Art Eggleton
Succeeded by	David Pratt
Member of Parliament forMarkham—Thornhill
In office 19 October 2015 – 1 February 2017
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Mary Ng
Member of Parliament forMarkham—Unionville Markham (2000–2004)
In office 27 November 2000 – 19 October 2015
Preceded by	Jim Jones
Succeeded by	Bob Saroya
Personal details
Born	(1950-04-09)9 April 1950 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	21 June 2025(2025-06-21) (aged 75) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Nancy Lim (林秀英)
Children	3 sons
Residence(s)	Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge (BA) Université de Paris I (DES) McGill University (PhD)
Profession	Economist

John McCallumPC (9 April 1950 – 21 June 2025) was a Canadian politician, economist, diplomat and university professor. A onetimeLiberalMember of Parliament (MP), McCallum served as theCanadian Ambassador to China from 2017 until being asked to resign by Prime Minister Trudeau in 2019.^[1][2] As an MP, he represented the electoral district ofMarkham—Thornhill and had previously representedMarkham—Unionville andMarkham. He was a member of theQueen's Privy Council for Canada.

A veteran federal politician who began his political career in 2000, McCallum served in the governments of Liberal prime ministersJean Chrétien,Paul Martin, andJustin Trudeau. McCallum was previously appointedSecretary of State (International Financial Institutions),Minister of National Defence,Minister of Veterans Affairs, andMinister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

McCallum was born inMontreal, Quebec, the son of Joan (Patteson) and Alexander Campbell McCallum.^[3] He received his secondary education atSelwyn House School andTrinity College School.^[4] He held a Bachelor of Arts degree fromQueens' College,Cambridge University, adiplôme d'études supérieures fromUniversité de Paris I, and a PhD degree in economics fromMcGill University.^[5]

McCallum spent his initial working years in Winnipeg, working as a civil servant for NDP Premier Ed Schreyer and as a professor of economics at theUniversity of Manitoba from 1976 until 1978. He taught atSimon Fraser University from 1978 until 1982, at theUniversité du Québec à Montréal from 1982 until 1987, and return to McGill University in 1987. He served as McGill's dean of arts when his future bossJustin Trudeau was a student there.^[6] He was an honorary member of theRoyal Military College of Canada, student No. S139.

One of his most influential academic contributions was an article in theAmerican Economic Review,^[7] which introduced the concept of thehome bias in trade puzzle. It has spawned an ongoing international debate^{[citation needed]} on whether trade within anation state is greater than trade among nations, as compared with the predictions of standardeconomic models.

AsMcGill University's dean of arts, McCallum secured a $10 million contribution fromCharles Bronfman for the establishment of theMcGill Institute for the Study of Canada.^[8] He also participated in the national unity debates of the early 1990s, editing the Canada Round Series of theC. D. Howe Institute and engaged in debate with thenOpposition LeaderJacques Parizeau atQuebec's National Assembly.^[9] He left McGill to become senior vice-president and chief economist of theRoyal Bank of Canada in 1994.

McCallum was theRoyal Bank of Canada's chief economist for six years. He consistently achieved the highest media coverage of bank chief economists, making regular appearances onCBC'sThe National as an economics panellist. With these media appearance he developed a reputation for cogent outspokenness. His frank assessment early in his tenure attributing Canada's high unemployment to Bank of Canada tight money policy, while generally uncontentious from an academic standpoint, was noted as surprising by both mainstream and financial sector journalists.

He also engaged in social issues, notably a 1997 Royal Bank conference designed to align the business community with the recommendations of the 1996 Report on theRoyal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. His paper at that conference, "The Cost of Doing Nothing", was highlighted ten years later in theAboriginal Times magazine.^[10]

In the week immediately before the call of the2000 federal election, McCallum was announced as theLiberal Party's star candidate for the electoral district ofMarkham, one of only two seats in Ontario (out of 103) the party failed to win in theprevious election held in 1997. McCallum handily defeated the incumbent MPJim Jones, who was elected as aProgressive Conservative but was expelled for accepting the endorsement from the rival partyCanadian Alliance.

With York Region's rapid population growth, McCallum had his electoral district redistributed to and forming the majority of two successor districts twice during his parliamentary career. He was re-elected inMarkham—Unionville, one of the two successor districts of Markham, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011. He won the first three elections with comfortable margins, and was one of only eleven Ontario Liberal MPs who survived the2011 election, retaining the seat in a tightly contested race against future Conservative MPBob Saroya. His district was again divided in at the 2015 election when he was re-elected in Markham—Thornhill.

For a brief four month period in late 2001, McCallum served as aparliamentary secretary toFinance Minister and future Prime MinisterPaul Martin. He was elevated to cabinet by Prime MinisterJean Chrétien in January 2002, initially asSecretary of State (International Financial Institution).

Only four months into his cabinet tenure, McCallum was promoted to beMinister of National Defence in May 2002, succeedingArt Eggleton who had offered his resignation upon findings by the Prime Minister'sethics counsellor that he had breached ministerial conflict of interests guidelines.

As Defence Minister, McCallum achieved what was then the largest increase in the annual defence budget ($1 billion) in more than a decade in return for offering up $200 million in savings from reducing low priority spending.^[11] He also retroactively reversed an inequity which awarded up to $250,000 to military personnel who lost their eyesight or a limb while on active service - but only to those with the rank ofcolonel or above. Now all Canadian Forces members are covered by the plan regardless of rank.^[12] Working with Germany, he successfully persuadedNATO to take control over the security mission inKabul,Afghanistan, while also ensuring that the mission was led by Canada.^[13] He also determined that the army, rather than the navy or air force, was to be the top priority in budget allocations.^[14]

He became widely known and criticized in 2002 when he admitted, while serving as the Minister of National Defence, that he had never heard of the 1942Dieppe raid, a fateful and nationally significant operation for Canadian Forces during theSecond World War.^[15] Ironically, he wrote a letter to the editor of theNational Post in response, but committed a further gaffe, confusing Canadian participation in the 1917Battle of Vimy Ridge in France withVichy France from 1940 to 1944. Response at the continued historical ignorance prompted outrage and humour among the press.

In November 2002, while still serving as Defence Minister, McCallum encountered further controversy when officials refused to allow him to board anAir Canada flight because his breath smelt heavily of alcohol. McCallum announced soon thereafter that the incident prompted him to abstain completely from alcohol consumption. He reportedly also intended to lose weight and give up smoking.^[16]

In January 2003, McCallum suggested Canadian troops could avoid so-called "friendly fire" incidents by wearing some of female Conservative MPElsie Wayne's clothes.^[17] McCallum later apologized both inside and outside the House of Commons for using inappropriate language, blaming the excitement of the moment, and had his apologies accepted by Wayne.^[17]

WhenPaul Martin became Prime Minister in late 2003, McCallum was among the eight members of the outgoing Chretien cabinet who stayed on. He was however shuffled to the lower profile role ofMinister of Veterans Affairs. As Veterans Affairs Minister, McCallum introduced a new charter for younger, postwar veterans who have been physically or mentally injured while serving in the Canadian Forces. This charter, which became law in 2005, is modelled on the range of services provided for returning veterans after World War II. This "new model" stripped veterans of a monthly pension opting for a lump sum payment.^{[citation needed]}

Following the 2004 election which reduced the Liberal government to minority, McCallum was further reassigned to beMinister of National Revenue and Minister responsible forCanada Post. During this period, he was a member of theTreasury Board and chaired its Expenditure Review Sub-Committee, where he achieved in 2005 expenditure reductions of $11 billion over the next five years.^[18] McCallum took on additional responsibility actingnatural resources minister in the month leading up to the 2006 election when incumbent MinisterJohn Efford was in ill health.

With the Liberals' defeated in the 2006 federal election, McCallum took a prominent seat on the opposition front bench as finance critic under interim leaderBill Graham. Despite being an early supporter ofMichael Ignatieff's unsuccessful2006 leadership bid, McCallum retained his role as finance critic underStéphane Dion and later under Ignatieff. He also served as transport critic for a period under Ignatieff.

The Liberals suffered its worst electoral defeat in the 2011 election, when its caucus was reduced to third party status. In the substantially reduced caucus under interim leaderBob Rae, McCallum served simultaneously as critic to three ministers - Treasury Board, Public Works & Government Services, and Human Resources and Skills Development.

UponJustin Trudeau's election as Liberal leader, McCallum was appointed as the immigration critic. During his time in the opposition, McCallum began to travel extensively to China at the expense of Beijing-friendly groups. McCallum took trips valued at $73,300 from pro-Beijing business groups, such as the Canadian Confederation of Fujian Associations.^[19]

When the Liberals were returned to power in November 2015, McCallum was appointedMinister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in the29th Canadian Ministry ofJustin Trudeau.^[20] He was one of six members of the new cabinet with previous cabinet experience, and was listed in anorder-in-council as the fourth-in-line to act in the event of the prime minister being unable to perform his duty, reflecting his standing as the cabinet members with the fourth longest tenure as a member of theQueen's Privy Council.^[21] As Immigration Minister, he oversaw the intake of Syrian refugees during theSyrian refugee crisis.^[6]

McCallum successfully nominatedNelson Mandela as the second honorary citizen in Canadian history.^[22]

McCallum was quite vocal inCanada's debate on same-sex marriage. He told theEdmonton Sun in August 2003, "If people want to do something and it doesn't hurt other people, doesn't reduce other people's rights, we should let them do it. Why not?"^[23] He also significantly contributed to the final debate before the vote on same-sex marriage on 21 March 2005^[24] saying:

I believe we should always seek to expand the rights of our fellow citizens as long as we do not thereby reduce the rights of others. We should seek to ensure that no group is denied full participation in society. As members of Parliament, we should not ask the question, why should we extend this right? Rather our question should be, why should we not extend the right? Let the burden of proof be on those who wish to limit fundamental rights.

...

Many Canadians will want to accept both of these principles: protect the traditional definition of marriage and protect the rights of minorities. The essence of my message today is that we cannot do both. We cannot have it both ways. We must make a choice between traditional marriage and the protection of minority rights.

On 10 January 2017, it was announced that McCallum andforeign ministerStéphane Dion would step down from cabinet, respectively to become Canada's Ambassadors to the People's Republic of China and to the European Union.^[25]

McCallum expressed eagerness to take on the posting in Beijing, citing his strong personal connections to China, as his former ridingMarkham has primarily Chinese constituents and both his wife and children are of Chinese ethnicity.^[26]

On 23 January 2019, McCallum spoke to Canadian and state-owned Chinese media inMarkham, Ontario,^[27] concerning the detention and extradition request by the United States, which resulted in the arrest ofHuawei deputy chairwomanMeng Wanzhou,^[28] who was awaiting court judgement. The United States alleged thatMeng Wanzhou was in violation of the United States sanctions against Iran. The Canadian Federal government reaffirmed that it is obliged to follow judicial protocol and that the arrest was not political in nature. McCallum shared his thoughts with the media by restating public facts that could make Meng's legal defence case strong against this extradition request. This included President Donald Trump's political intrusion, which allegedly undermined the integrity of the Canadian judicial protocol, thereby contradicting Canada's stance by making it political in nature.^[29] McCallum re-stated other reported motives the United States could have, citing the alleged intent of the arrest by the United States was to attempt to obtain trade concessions from China. McCallum withdrew his comments, saying he "misspoke" and that they did "not accurately represent [his] position on this issue".^[30] That week, McCallum was further quoted as later telling a Toronto Star journalist it "would be great for Canada" if the U.S. extradition request were dropped, conditional on release of Canadians since detained in China.^[31]

On 26 January 2019, McCallum submitted his resignation as ambassador to China at the request of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who did not disclose the reasoning behind this decision.^[32][26]

McCallum advised and represented various private enterprises engaging in business dealing in China in later years. He was affiliated with law firmMcMillan LLP, where Martin eraPMO Chief of StaffTim Murphy was managing partner.

In July 2020, McCallum's employment by the Wailian Group, a Chinese company that assists with immigration to Canada, sparked calls from oppositions MPs andDemocracy Watch for McCallum to be investigated by theEthics Commissioner for potential breaches of the Conflict of Interest Act.^[33]

McCallum was married to Nancy Lim, who is ofMalaysian Chinese background (Chinese:林秀英;pinyin:Lín Xiùyīng). They have three sons (Andrew, Jamie, and Duncan).^[34]

McCallum died atCredit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ontario, on 21 June 2025, at the age of 75.^[35] The cause of death was lung cancer.^[36]

• — (1980).Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic Development in Quebec and Ontario until 1870. Toronto, Ontario:University of Toronto Press.ISBN 0-8020-5455-2.
• Barber, Clarence; — (1980).Unemployment and Inflation: The Canadian Experience. Canadian Institute for Economic Policy. Toronto, Ontario: James Lorimer Limited.ISBN 0-88862-293-7.
• Barber, Clarence; — (1982).Controlling Inflation: Learning from Experience in Canada, Europe and Japan. Canadian Institute for Economic Policy. Toronto, Ontario: James Lorimer Limited.ISBN 0-88862-587-1.
• —; Green, Christopher (1991).Parting as Friends: The Economic Consequences for Quebec. Canada Round. Toronto, Ontario:C. D. Howe Institute.ISBN 0-88806289-3.ISSN 1183-6253.
• Baldassarri, Mario; McCallum, John;Mundell, Robert, eds. (1992).Global Disequilibrium in the World Economy. Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy.Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN 0-31207984-2.

• Official website
• "Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry". Retrieved1 May 2006.
• John McCallum – Parliament of Canada biography

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