Wilbur MacDonald was a Progressive Conservative party

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

. He was a farmer by career.

The son of Leo R. MacDonald and Helen Morrissey, MacDonald was educated in Orwell. He married Pauline Murphy in 1958.

He represented Prince Edward Island's Cardigan

Cardigan (electoral district)

Cardigan is a federal electoral district in Prince Edward Island, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.-Demographics:Ethnic groups: 98.5% White, 1.1% Native Canadian...

 electoral district, which he won in the 1979 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1979

The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...

. After serving his only term, the 31st Canadian Parliament

31st Canadian Parliament

The 31st Canadian Parliament was a briefly lived parliament in session from October 9 until December 14, 1979. The membership was set by the 1979 federal election on May 22, 1979, and it was dissolved after the minority government of Joe Clark failed to pass a Motion of Confidence on December 13,...

, he was defeated in the 1980 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1980

The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...

 by Daniel J. MacDonald

Daniel J. MacDonald

Daniel Joseph MacDonald, PC was a Canadian politician.-Life:He was born on his family's farm in Bothwell, Prince Edward Island and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse....

 of the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

. He was subsequently elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island

The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, along with the Lieutenant-Governor, forms the parliament of the province. The General Assembly meets at Province House, which is located at the intersection of Richmond and Great George Streets in Charlottetown....

 as an MLA for 4th Queens

4th Queens

4th Queens was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993.The district comprised the southeastern portion of Queens County....

 in the 1982 election

Prince Edward Island general election, 1982

The Prince Edward Island General Election, 1982 saw the re-election of the Progressive Conservative government , with a majority of seats and votes cast. It also marked a low point for the Island New Democrats, who captured 0.7% of the vote, the lowest since they started running candidates in 1974....

, and served until 1989. MacDonald served in the province's Executive Assembly as Minister of Industry from 1984 to 1986.

When the provincial ridings were redistricted in 1996, he became MLA for Belfast-Pownal Bay, which he held until his retirement from politics in 2007. MacDonald was speaker for the provincial assembly from 1997 to 2000.

MacDonald made two further unsuccessful attempts to reenter federal politics, first in a 13 April 1981 by-election and then in the 1993 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1993

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

.