Dale Kirby (born May 19, 1971) is a politician who served in the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the Unicameralism, unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Build ...

from 2011 to 2019. He served as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development in the Ball government from 2015 to 2018.

Early life

Kirby was born in

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

on the

Burin Peninsula The Burin Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Marystown is the largest population centre on the peninsula.Statistics Canada. 2017. Marystown, T ensus ...

. He was raised on a small farm in Lord's Cove where generations of his family have worked in inshore fishing industries. Kirby began working at an early age at ''Kirby's Store'', later ''Kirby's Kwik-Way'', a family-run grocery and convenience store. He graduated from St. Joseph's Academy in 1989.

University studies and student activism

Kirby earned

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

degrees from

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

before completing a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in higher education theory and policy studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. While at university, he held a number of elected student union positions at the local, provincial, and national levels. As chairperson of the Newfoundland and Labrador component of the

Canadian Federation of Students The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is the largest student organization in Canada, representing over 530,000 students from across Canada. Formed in 1981, the stated goal of the Federation is to represent the collective voice of Canadian st ...

in the 1990s, Kirby led a successful campaign to freeze college and university tuition fees in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Academic career

In 2006, Kirby was appointed an assistant professor of post-secondary education studies in the Faculty of Education at

. He was promoted to the position of associate professor in 2011. Prior to joining Memorial University, he worked as a senior advisor on education policy in the Ontario Public Service. Kirby is a professor, researcher, and consultant on student access and participation in college and university and in the area of online learning. In recognition of his contributions and advocacy, the

Canadian Council on Learning The Canadian Council on Learning was a channel for lifelong learning, encouraging and supporting data-based decisions about learning during all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years. The organization received about 85% of ...

named him a

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

Scholar in 2007. In 2011, he received the R. W. B. Jackson Award from the Canadian Educational Researchers Association as well the Best Research Paper Award at the 2011 European Distance and E-Learning Network Annual Conference.

Politics

Kirby was first elected in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

to represent the electoral district of St. John's North as a member of the

Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party The Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) is a social democratic political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in 1961 as the successor to the ...

. Kirby left the NDP caucus in 2013 after a high-profile, public dispute with NDP leader

Lorraine Michael Lorraine Michael (born March 27, 1943) is a social-democratic Canadian politician from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. From May 2006 until March 2015, Michael was the leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NDP). She i ...

, and later joined the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party. He was reelected in the 2015 provincial election as a Liberal in the new district of

Mount Scio Mount Scio is a provincial electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador. As of 2011 there are 14,482 people living in the district. Mount Scio includes part of the town of Paradise and the part of the city of St. John's. The district was ...

. Kirby was sworn at Government House as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development by Lieutenant Governor

Frank Fagan Frank Frederick Fagan, (born c. 1944) is a Canadian businessman and dignitary, who served as the 13th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador from 2013 to 2018. He was appointed by Governor General of Canada David Lloyd Johnston on the ...

on December 14, 2015. On April 30, 2018 Kirby was removed from cabinet and caucus following allegations of harassment. Kirby sat as an Independent during an investigation of the complaint by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards. On August 27, 2018, CBC released a copy of a report by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards that cleared him and

Eddie Joyce Eddie Joyce is a Canadian politician, who represents the district of Humber-Bay of Islands in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. Originally a member of the Liberal Party, he served as the party's interim leader and the leader of t ...

of wrongdoing in all the allegations made by fellow Liberal MHA Colin Holloway. On October 20, 2018, Kirby leaked the results of the report regarding MHA

Pam Parsons Pamela Parsons is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2015 provincial election.Living people People from St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador Members of the Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party MHAs Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 1971 births Memorial University of Newfoundland faculty Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Independent MHAs in Newfoundland and Labrador 21st-century Canadian politicians