William Mulock

Who was William Mulock?

Sir William Mulock, PC, KCMG, MP, QC, LL.D was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, educator, farmer, politician, judge, and philanthropist.

He served as vice-chancellor of the University of Toronto from 1881 to 1900, negotiating the federation of denominational colleges and professional schools into a modern university.

He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament and served from 1882 to 1905. Sir Wilfrid Laurier appointed him to the Canadian Cabinet as Postmaster General from 1896 to 1905. In 1900, Mulock established the Department of Labour, bringing William Lyon Mackenzie King into public life as his Deputy Minister.

He initiated the final agreement for a transpacific cable linking Canada to Australia and New Zealand, and funded Marconi to establish the first transatlantic radio link from North America to Europe. In 1905 he chaired the parliamentary inquiry into telephones that led to regulation of Canadian telecommunications, and he participated in the negotiations that led to the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.