| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable |
| William Ross Macdonald | |
| Order: | 21st |
| Office: | Lieutenant Governor of Ontario |
| Term Start: | July 4, 1968 |
| Term End: | April 10, 1974 |
| Governor General: | Roland Michener Jules Léger |
| Premier: | John Robarts Bill Davis |
| Predecessor: | William Earl Rowe |
| Successor: | Pauline Mills McGibbon |
| Office2: | Leader of the Government in the Senate |
| Term Start2: | April 22, 1963 |
| Term End2: | February 2, 1964 |
| Primeminister2: | Lester B. Pearson |
| Predecessor2: | Alfred Johnson Brooks |
| Successor2: | John Joseph Connolly |
| Term Start3: | October 14, 1953 |
| Term End3: | June 20, 1957 |
| Primeminister3: | Louis St. Laurent |
| Predecessor3: | Wishart McLea Robertson |
| Successor3: | John Thomas Haig |
| Office4: | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
| Term Start4: | June 20, 1957 |
| Term End4: | April 22, 1963 |
| Predecessor4: | John Thomas Haig |
| Successor4: | Alfred Johnson Brooks |
| Order5: | 18th |
| Office5: | Solicitor General of Canada |
| Term Start5: | January 12, 1954 |
| Term End5: | June 20, 1957 |
| Primeminister5: | Louis St. Laurent |
| Predecessor5: | Ralph Campney |
| Successor5: | Léon Balcer |
| Office6: | Senator for Brantford, Ontario |
| Term Start6: | June 12, 1953 |
| Term End6: | December 22, 1967 |
| Appointer6: | Louis St. Laurent |
| Office7: | 22nd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada |
| Term Start7: | September 15, 1949 |
| Term End7: | June 11, 1953 |
| Monarch7: | George VI Elizabeth II |
| Governor General7: | The Viscount Alexander of Tunis Georges Vanier |
| Predecessor7: | Gaspard Fauteux |
| Successor7: | Louis-René Beaudoin |
| Office8: | Member of Parliament |
| Term Start8: | October 14, 1935 |
| Term End8: | June 27, 1949 |
| Predecessor8: | Robert Edwy Ryerson |
| Successor8: | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency Mp8: | Brantford |
| Term Start9: | June 27, 1949 |
| Term End9: | August 10, 1953 |
| Predecessor9: | Constituency established |
| Successor9: | James Elisha Brown |
| Constituency Mp9: | Brantford City |
| Birth Date: | 25 December 1891 |
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Death Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Restingplace: | Farringdon Burial Ground, Brantford |
| Party: | Liberal |
| Alma Mater: | |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Branch: | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
| Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Unit: |
|
| Battles: | First World War |
William Ross Macdonald (December 25, 1891 - May 28, 1976), served as the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1968 to 1974, and as 22nd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1949 to 1953.
Macdonald was born in Toronto, Ontario, to a dry goods merchant who had immigrated from Scotland. He went on to study law at the University of Toronto and the Osgoode Hall Law School. Upon completion, he practised law in Brantford, Ontario, and served with the 2nd Canadian Division Cyclist Company and 4th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War.
In 1921, Macdonald married Muriel Whittaker.
Macdonald sought Liberal Party nomination to run for election to the House of Commons of Canada for the 1926 election, but lost the nomination by a single vote. He won the nomination for the Brantford riding in the next election, but lost the election. Macdonald was elected in the 1935 election. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) until 1953.
During World War II, Macdonald was a staunch supporter of conscription. His position is made clear in this wartime quote taken from a Canadian newspaper, "There is a victory to be won and that can be accomplished only by every Canadian taking part." After the war, he served as Deputy Speaker (1945–1949) and then as Speaker of the House of Commons (1949–1953).
While serving as Speaker of the House of Commons Macdonald made a famous ruling, banning musical instruments from being played in the Chamber, on June 3, 1950. The ban came about after Daniel McIvor MP for Fort William played a flute while waiting for a vote call.[1]
In 1953, Governor General Vincent Massey, on the advice of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, appointed Macdonald to the Senate of Canada, where he became Leader of the Government in the Canadian Senate and a minister without portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet. From 1954 until the Liberal government's defeat in the 1957 election, Macdonald served as Solicitor General of Canada.
With the defeat of the Liberals, he became Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Senate, and served again as Government Leader when the Liberals returned to power in 1963. He retired from the Cabinet in 1964. From 1964 to 1972, he was the second Chancellor of Waterloo Lutheran University.[2] Governor General Roland Michener, on the advice of Lester Pearson, appointed Macdonald to serve as Lieutenant Governor from 1968 to 1974. In this role, he was involved with many service groups, such as the Canadian Order of Foresters and the Kiwanis Club.
In 1974, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[3] The Ontario School for the Blind in Brantford was renamed the W. Ross Macdonald School in his honour.
He died in Toronto in 1976.
William Macdonald was a devoted Freemason initiated on March 17, 1917 at the Doric Lodge No. 121 in Brantford, Ontario.