Denise J. Peterson-Rafuse is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who represented the electoral district of

Chester-St. Margaret's Chester—St. Margaret's is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It is located on the South Shore. The constituency was created in 1956 as a division of Lunenbur ...

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 2009 to 2017 as a member of the

Nova Scotia New Democratic Party The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social-democratic, progressive provincial party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial entity of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C ...

Early life and education

Peterson-Rafuse earned a Bachelor of Public Relations from

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate programs in Arts, S ...

in 1986. She worked for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Political career

In 2009, Peterson-Rafuse successfully ran for the New Democratic Party nomination in the riding of Chester-St. Margaret's. She was elected in the 2009 provincial election and was re-elected in the 2013 provincial election. On June 19, 2009, Peterson-Rafuse was appointed 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 Community Services, Minister responsible for Seniors and the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and chair of the Senior Citizens' Secretariat. In March 2016, Peterson-Rafuse was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. On April 6, 2016, Peterson-Rafuse announced that she would be taking a leave of absence to deal with her diagnosis. In the 2017 election, Peterson-Rafuse was defeated by Liberal Hugh MacKay. For the 2021 election, Peterson-Rafuse endorsed the Progressive Conservatives for their proposed health care plan, citing her prior diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the difficulties in finding adequate support.

Electoral record

, - ,

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

, Denise Peterson-Rafuse , align="right", 3341 , align="right", 35.25 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Janet Elizabeth Irwin , align="right", 3193 , align="right", 33.69 , align="right", , - ,

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, Timothy Whitman Harris , align="right", 2943 , align="right", 31.06 , align="right", , - ,

, Denise Peterson-Rafuse , align="right", 4835 , align="right", 48.09 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative ,

Judy Streatch Judy Streatch (born October 6, 1966) is a Canadian politician, who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Chester-St. Margaret's in Nova Scotia from 2005 to 2009. A schoolteacher by career, Streatch was educated at Saint Mary's U ...

, align="right", 2762 , align="right", 27.47 , align="right", , - ,

, Jo-Ann Grant , align="right", 2122 , align="right", 21.11 , align="right", , -

References

External links

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

NDP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson-Rafuse, Denise Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Women government ministers of Canada Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia People with multiple sclerosis Women MLAs in Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians