Military During
World War I, he served in, and later commanded, 6th Brigade,
Canadian Field Artillery (
Non-Permanent Active Militia in the
Canadian Army). He achieved the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel and was
mentioned in dispatches three times and wounded twice. MacKay won the
Distinguished Service Order in 1916 at the
Battle of the Somme and in 1918 was seriously wounded at
Arras. He left the military after the war but was involved in the formation of the
Royal Canadian Legion in 1925 and was its first National Vice-Chairman. He was a
freemason and was initiated in 1925 to Ionic Lodge, #25 G.R.C.
Law and politics Known as J. Keiller MacKay, he was
called to the
Nova Scotia bar in 1922 and the
Ontario bar in 1923. A local labour organization, the Workers' Education Association (WEA), had purchased a property on O'Connor Drive, east of Broadview Avenue in Toronto, for the purpose of building a model "workingman's home", MacKay was appointed to the
Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1950 and remained on the court until 1957, when he was named the lieutenant governor of Ontario. He served as lieutenant governor until 1963, and he opened the lieutenant governor's
New Year's Levee to the general public for the first time. In 1964, he was a founder of the
Canadian Civil Liberties Association, serving as honorary president. In 1967, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada. He was also a Knight of Grace of the
Venerable Order of St. John and was responsible for bringing the
Order of Saint Lazarus to Canada in 1962. ==Personal life==