John William Gillis (October 31, 1936 – August 15, 2009), generally known as Bill Gillis, was a Canadian politician who served in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

from 1970 to 1998. He represented the electoral district of

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

for the Liberals. Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, his family moved to Antigonish when he was six weeks old. Gillis was a graduate of

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

, and held a doctorate in geology from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. Gillis was employed as a geologist with the Canadian Department of Energy, Mines and Resources from 1962 to 1967. He taught geology at St. Francis Xavier University in

Antigonish, Nova Scotia , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

from 1967 to 1970. Gillis died on August 15, 2009, as a result of brain cancer.

Political career

Gillis first attempted to enter provincial politics in the 1967 election, but lost to Progressive Conservative William F. MacKinnon by 26 votes. He ran again in the 1970 election and defeated Progressive Conservative William Shaw by 408 votes to win the Antigonish riding. On October 28, 1970, he was appointed by Premier

Gerald Regan Gerald Augustine Paul Regan (February 13, 1928 – November 26, 2019) was a Canadian politician (as Member of Parliament (Canada), federal MP and later as Nova Scotia House of Assembly, Nova Scotia MLA), who served as the 19th premier of Nova Sc ...

to the

Executive Council of Nova Scotia The Executive Council of Nova Scotia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Nova Scotia) is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Almost always made up of members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the Cabinet is sim ...

as Minister of Agriculture and Marketing, and Minister of Municipal Affairs. He was named Minister of Welfare in September 1972, and was shuffled to Minister of Education in August 1973. Gillis was re-elected in the 1974 election, and remained as Minister of Education until February 1976 when he became Minister of Mines. Gillis was re-elected in the 1978 election, but the Liberals were defeated and he moved to the opposition benches for the next 15 years. During his years in opposition, Gillis was re-elected in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, and 1988 elections. In the 1993 election, the Liberals led by John Savage won a majority government, and Gillis was re-elected in his riding by over 4,000 votes. On June 11, 1993, Savage appointed Gillis to cabinet as Deputy Premier and Minister of Justice, becoming the first non-lawyer in the province's history to hold the justice job. Gillis remained as Minister of Justice until June 26, 1996, when he became Minister of Finance, while being retained as Deputy Premier, the two jobs he continued to hold after

Russell MacLellan Russell Gregoire MacLellan (born January 16, 1940) is a Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Nova Scotia from 1997 to 1999. Early life MacLellan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Federal politics He was first elected to the H ...

took over as premier in July 1997. Gillis did not reoffer in the 1998 election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillis, Bill 1936 births 2009 deaths Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia People from Antigonish County, Nova Scotia Politicians from Boston Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences alumni St. Francis Xavier University alumni Nova Scotia political party leaders