His education included graduating from Sydney Academy High School and attending St. Francis Xavier University (St.
He served on the Nova Scotia Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's (CCF) governing board known as the provincial council from 1940 until 1951.
In 1941, he then ran for and won the CCF's nomination for the provincial electoral district (riding) of Cape Breton South.
He won the 1941 provincial election by a mere 62 votes over Liberal incumbent MLA George Mackay Morrison.
[3] He ran for re-election in 1945, and gained 440 votes over his previous total but due to gerrymandering lost a close election to Liberal John Smith MacIvor.
In 1967, during Canada's Centennial Year, MacDonald was appointed acting president of the CLC in September, due to Claude Jodoin being incapacitated by illness.