Gerald David Nantes (born June 6, 1945) is an engineer and former political figure in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada. He represented Cole Harbour in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1978 to 1993 as a Progressive Conservative member.

Early life and career

Nantes was born in 1945 at

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, the son of Gerald T. Nantes and Mary Catherine Hogan. He was educated at

St. Dunstan's University :''St. Andrew's College, Prince Edward Island'' redirects to here. St. Dunstan's University (SDU) is a former university which was located on the northern outskirts of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. SDU merged with Prince of Wales C ...

, the

Technical University of Nova Scotia The Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) was a Canadian university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. TUNS was officially founded as the Nova Scotia Technical College on 25 April 1907. On 1 April 1997 it was merged into Dalhousie University ...

and

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

. Nantes married Diane LaRose in March 1967. Nantes was the president and chief executive officer of the Nova Scotia Tidal Power Corporation from January 1980 to March 1984.

Political career

Nantes entered provincial politics in the 1978 election, winning the Cole Harbour riding. He was re-elected in

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 ...

. On November 4, 1983, Nantes was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Labour. Nantes was re-elected in the 1984 election, and continued to serve in the Labour portfolio until moving to Minister of Municipal Affairs in a November 1985 cabinet shuffle. In November 1987, Nantes was shuffled to Minister of Small Business Development. In the 1988 election, Nantes was re-elected for a fourth term, defeating Liberal

Alan Mitchell Alan Mitchell may refer to: * Alan Mitchell (botanist) * Alan Mitchell (comics) * Alan Mitchell (politician) Alan E. Mitchell is a Canadian former politician. He represented the electoral district of Dartmouth-Cole Harbour in the Nova Scotia Hou ...

by 1400 votes. In a post election cabinet shuffle, he was named Minister of Health. On September 25, 1990, Nantes resigned from cabinet after Halifax police charged him with releasing confidential mental health information about a former deputy minister who had made allegations of widespread patronage in the Tory government. An initial investigation of Nantes's remarks found that no charges could be laid as he was protected by parliamentary privilege, but the case was reopened when the local CBC station broadcast similar comments made by Nantes to reporters outside the legislature. Nantes went on trial in January 1991, and was acquitted of the charges in March 1991. On January 22, 1993, Nantes announced that he was not running for re-election in the 1993 election.

References

* ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1984'', PG Normandin {{DEFAULTSORT:Nantes, David 1945 births Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Living people Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Politicians from Charlottetown Saint Dunstan's University alumni Dalhousie University alumni Nova Scotia Ministers of Health