William McDougall PC CB (January 25, 1822 – May 29, 1905) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and one of the Fathers of Confederation.

In 1849, William McDougall's office in Toronto was the meeting place for the Clear Grit political movement.

In 1863, along with Alexander Tilloch Galt, McDougall went to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Abraham Lincoln in order to renegotiate the Reciprocity Treaty.

On the following day, November 19, an opening ceremony took place at the new Gettysburg cemetery, built for dead soldiers of the American Civil War.

In July 1958, before then–US President Dwight D. Eisenhower addressed a joint session of the Parliament of Canada, Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker recounted the tale of the friendship between McDougall and Lincoln as an example of the long history of friendship between Canada and the United States.

[2] A copy of the Hansard containing Eisenhower's speech was autographed and commented by Diefenbaker, and it can be found in the Baldwin Room – a secured archives area – of the Toronto Reference Library.

However, when McDougall tried to enter Rupert's Land from the Dakota Territory down the Red River, he was turned back near the border by Louis Riel's troops before he could establish his authority at Fort Garry (now Winnipeg, Manitoba).

Dispatches on microfiche at the Main Library of the City of Toronto include his request for 1,000 British troops to be sent on the authority of Queen Victoria.

He also continued to be an interim leader of the North-West provisional government from Ottawa until Adams George Archibald took over on May 10, 1870.

During the conferences preceding Confederation, McDougall was personally in favour of electing members to the Senate of Canada.