Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Bill Morneau
Bill Morneau
Minister of Finance
6The former head of the consulting firm Morneau Shepell is a political rookie, but, in his first year as finance minister, he has flexed his power to effect change in some of the trickiest corners of the Canadian economy. He attempted to tame the runaway housing market by tightening mortgage requirements. When budget time came, he argued for a $29.4-billion deficit, in part by introducing new funding to benefit vulnerable groups like low-income seniors and Indigenous people. Then he managed to get most of the provincial finance ministers on board with a new Canada Pension Plan agreement that will significantly increase benefits. In Toronto social circles, he’s well connected: his wife is frozen foods heiress Nancy McCain.
Up next:
Addressing the “job churn” he describes as the new workplace reality for millennials.
