Meighen family look to third generation to run foundation

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Theodore (Ted) Meighen, son of former Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, established the Meighen Family Foundation in 1969, and it is now transitioning to a third generation.

His son, former senator Michael Meighen and his wife, Kelly, have run the foundation since 1990 and are now looking to their sons to take over.

Kelly has affectionate stories about how the Meighen Family Foundation gave grants from “off the side of the kitchen table” in the 1960s and 70s. It has evolved to grant millions of dollars to hundreds of organizations to fund projects supporting vulnerable people primarily in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Ted Meighen practised law in Montreal at McMaster Meighen, becoming a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Canadian Artillery during World War II. He was active in the Montreal community where he lived with his wife Margaret (Peggy), who took over the leadership of the foundation after he died, eventually passing it on to the next generation.

Michael, also a lawyer, served as national president of the Progressive Conservative Association of Canada in the 1970s and was appointed to the Senate in 1990. He has served on many government committees and corporate boards and was Chancellor of McGill University from 2014 to 2021.

Kelly has served on the board of the Meighen Family Foundation since 1979 and has been president since 1990. In addition to her work with the foundation, Kelly has held many board positions and is currently Honorary Colonel of The Royal Regiment of Canada. In 2023 she was named Chancellor of Western University.

Kelly and Michael have three sons, Ted, Hugh and Max, and three grandchildren, and split their time between Toronto and Saint Andrews, N.B.

How did the Meighen Family Foundation come to be?

“The foundation was started by Theodore (Ted) Meighen in New Brunswick, where his wife Margaret (Peggy) was born, in honour of Expo ’67.

Ted understood that there was a high need in New Brunswick but there was a small number of people who had the means to give. He created the foundation with a $100,000 gift and when he died in 1979, 50 per cent of his estate was endowed to the foundation to make it what it is today.

In the early years, it was very much a typical foundation of that time with a broad mandate. Grants were given out ‘off the side of the kitchen table’ to a wide variety of grantees in health, social services, arts, education and environment.

Peggy became the president after Ted died and continued in that role until she asked Michael and I to take over in the early 1990s.”

How have you been able to honour the founder’s legacy and vision, whilst moving the foundation forward?

“We made a deliberate decision to have our sons spend time in New Brunswick so that they would have a connection to this place that meant so much to their grandparents. Although they never met their grandfather, we have taken great care to articulate his values and his motivation for creating the foundation.

We have continued to support vulnerable individuals and marginalized communities. But gradually we began to focus our work and establish more contemporary philanthropic practices.

We became more proactive rather than reactive and did more due diligence than had been done in the past. However, we honour the original vision for the foundation to support those with the highest need in all of the work we do.”

In what ways have the foundation’s initiatives evolved since its establishment?

“When Michael and I were given the responsibility of running the foundation we established a new board and sought to match the types of giving we did with our funding capacity for maximum impact.

One example of evolving initiatives would be the work we did with Community Foundations in New Brunswick. We provided three-year funding to four different community foundations to develop and expand their programs, professionalize their work, and enhance and grow their endowments.

Our goal was to provide this funding at a pivotal time to help these organizations get established and also ensure their success and longevity.
Our initiatives have continued to evolve because they now come from the interests of the third generation as they look to support organizations addressing current needs in Canada.

Until recently our focus has been on organizations supporting youth mental health programs – from CAMH to Jack.org to Pine River Institute. In developing our strategic plan over the past year, we have changed the focus of our giving to represent three pillars – access to childhood supports, access to healthy food and access to safe housing – to continue to support underserved communities.”

Why is it important to your family to support vulnerable communities and families in Toronto and New Brunswick?

“The founders felt that the East Coast was very much underfunded in terms of philanthropy and their grants could go much further. We think that is still true today and we are pleased that our sons wish to continue supporting organizations in New Brunswick.

We expanded our giving into Toronto as we all live here and are involved with many organizations in the city. Plus, we saw a greater need in Toronto than perhaps there was when the foundation was created.

The housing crisis, food insecurity and child poverty are all current realities in Toronto and we feel that our foundation has a role to play in supporting organizations tackling these issues.

As a board we look for opportunities to provide support to those individuals and communities that struggle to access the help they need. Funding initiatives that provide that access has become a focal point for our grantmaking.”

How do you involve the next generation in the family’s philanthropy?

“The foundation has always been a part of our sons’ lives, even when they were very young. We began involving them more formally when they were in their 20s – they were invited to attend board meetings as observers.

At the time the board was made up of Michael and me and six of our contemporaries. Eventually we asked the boys to be full board members, and we requested that the current board step down to encourage our sons to have a greater voice in the foundation.

We created two giving streams: collective and individual, giving our sons a small amount of discretionary funding that they could direct to the organizations of their choice.

Very quickly they began to establish what they were interested in supporting – gaining an understanding of the challenges faced by underserved communities and the non-profit organizations supporting them.

We have had to be patient about their availability as they build their careers and start families. But we have been very intentional in increasing their involvement and ensuring they have an understanding of the responsibilities and commitment needed to run an effective philanthropic foundation.”

What challenges are you most proud of overcoming as a family over the years?

“There are many reasons for our success as a family foundation: we work well together as a board; we’re very respectful and collegial and we find opportunities to collaborate.

We have worked hard to ensure everyone feels they have a voice at the table and always work toward unanimous decisions.

Most importantly, the second generation has been ready and willing to step back and allow the next generation to take over the leadership.

My mother-in-law did that in allowing Michael and I to take over the foundation 25 years ago and now we are working toward that with our sons.

It isn’t easy but I believe it is a necessary step to ensure the long-term sustainability of our foundation and to continue to inspire the next generation of philanthropists.

We have told our sons that we trust their values and their instincts as they begin to lead the organization.”

What projects or initiatives are you excited about for your foundation?

“We feel that as a foundation, we are keeping pace with the urgent issues of the day. These issues are not only of interest to the members of the board but are pressing challenges in our society.

We are supporting three main organizations – one for each of our pillars.

For our “Access to Childhood Supports” pillar, we continue to work with New Brunswick Social Pediatrics, an organization that supports vulnerable children and families in Saint John.

For our “Access to Healthy Food” pillar, we are supporting The New Farm for Climate Action, a new initiative from an organization we have supported in the past that provides fresh produce to food centres in Ontario.

And for our “Access to Safe Housing” pillar, we continue to support research on homelessness from Dr. Stephen Hwang and his team through the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Over the next year we plan to expand our board of directors and we are keen to see where our sons take the foundation as we transition the leadership. It’s an exciting and fulfilling time for all of us.”

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

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