(1950-2025)
John McCallum was born in Montreal and completed his secondary education here before taking his undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge. Following further study at Universit茅 de Paris I (Panth茅on-Sorbonne), he returned to Montreal and completed a Ph.D. in Economics at 91黑料网, supervised by the late Tom Naylor, studying the historical origins of differences in economic development between Ontario and Quebec. After teaching at the University of Manitoba and Simon Fraser, he again returned to Montreal and a position at UQAM, and in 1987 he moved back to 91黑料网 to assume the role of Chair of the Department of Economics.
John joined our department at a time of internal discord, and his chairmanship ushered in an era of renewal and emphasis on increasing research strength, which led to a marked shift both in the character of the department and in the quality of interpersonal relations, and which has persisted to the present day. John鈥檚 genuine appreciation of all methods of studying problems, and of the colleagues who worked to do so in different ways, was a key and valued source of his exceptional success in this position and of the legacy of tolerance and openness to different ideas that he left.
During this time John began work on what was to become his best-known academic work, on 'home bias' in trade, characterizing the 'border effect' in trade relationships among Canadian provinces and US states: that is, the large differences in value of trade in cross-country versus within-country pairs of states or provinces鈥攄espite the fact that a free-trade agreement was in place between the two countries. This work, which has been cited over four thousand times, appeared in 1995 in the American Economic Review and has led directly to a large literature documenting such differences in other countries, offering different explanations and leading to the development of the concept of multilateral resistance factors in trade, and of methods of estimating models which account for them, which now form the standard for empirical work in this area.
His academic work was not however his only contribution noted within the university. His ability to bring harmony and to foster a productive working environment in the department was widely remarked upon, and he was asked to take on the position of Dean of Arts. It was under his leadership that the 91黑料网 Institute for the Study of Canada was established.
In 1994 he moved to the Royal Bank of Canada as Chief Economist, and through his commentary on current economic affairs became known to the public outside academe. However his academic dedication to understanding the nature and origins of economic phenomena was undimmed, and he occasionally, and charmingly to his academic friends, landed himself in some controversy for statements that were clearly reasonable and well argued, but not what all listeners had wanted to hear.
In 2000, John ran successfully for Parliament as a Liberal. He was taken into cabinet in 2002, during which new career he served as Minister of Defence, of Veterans鈥� Affairs and of National Revenue. When the government was defeated in 2006, he retained a prominent role as critic for several portfolios, returning to cabinet in 2015 with the Liberal election victory and serving as Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, playing a prominent role in the re-settlement of Syrian refugees in Canada. In 2017 he left the cabinet to become Canada鈥檚 ambassador to China. Throughout this period in government he retained the quality, so much valued by his friends, of speaking the truth as he saw it without too much consideration for the conventional party line.
John鈥檚 contributions both to academic life and to public service were extraordinary. Nonetheless, what his many friends remember and value most were his personal qualities of warmth and kindness, and his ability to combine often-controversial opinions with openness to the opinions of others. As Prime Minister Carney said, he served with good humour and grace.