Career
Born in Canora, Saskatchewan, he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery and was officer with the Princess Patricia"s Canadian Light Infantry. In 1945, he was awarded the. After the war, he remained in the Canadian Army.
He retired with the rank of major in 1965 and settled in Victoria, British Columbia.
He then taught at Sangster Elementary School in Colwood. From 1968 to 1972, he was a trustee and later chairman of the Victoria School Board.
He was re-elected on four successive occasions, and served from 1979 to 1980 as Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs in the short-lived minority government of Joe Clark. McKinnon retired from politics at the 1988 federal election.
He died at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, British Columbia in 1990 due to cancer.