Diana Caroline Whalen (born November 20, 1956) 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

Halifax Clayton Park Clayton Park West is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The riding was created in 1978 as Halifax Bedford Basin from a portion of Halifax Cobequid. In 2003, the ...

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 2003-2013, and

Clayton Park West Clayton Park is a community within Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. History The community of Clayton Park is named after a family that owned property in the area extending up the southern slope of Geizer's Hill. On 12 July 1962, the Clayton Par ...

from 2013-2017, as a member of the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Z ...

Early life and education

Whalen was born in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

. She graduated with a BA and MBA from Dalhousie University.

Before politics

Whalen worked in South Korea, Australia and Jamaica from 1980 to 1988 before returning to Halifax to raise her family. Holding the designation

Certified Management Accountant Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is a professional certification credential in the management accounting and financial management fields. The certification signifies that the person possesses knowledge in the areas of financial planning, an ...

(CMA), Whalen worked as a management consultant for 15 years. Whalen was part of the planning team for the 21st G7 summit which took place in Halifax from June 15–17, 1995. In the late 1990s, Whalen founded a community action group dedicated to seeing a new P-9 school built in her fast-growing neighbourhood of

Political career

Whalen was elected to

Halifax Regional Council Halifax Regional Council (french: Conseil régional d'Halifax) is the governing body of Halifax, known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographi ...

in the 2000 municipal election, representing District 16 Prince's Lodge-Clayton Park West. In 2003 Whalen successfully ran for the

nomination in the riding of

. She was elected in the 2003 provincial election and was subsequently re-elected in the 2006, 2009 and 2013 provincial elections. In 2004, Whalen's private members bill for mandatory booster seats was passed by the legislature. Whalen championed the fight to preserve the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area, which culminated in April 2009 when the provincial government granted protection from development for of wilderness in the area beside

Bayers Lake Business Park Bayers Lake Business Park is a business park in Halifax, Nova Scotia west of Clayton Park. History The Bayers Lake Industrial Park was developed from the mid-1980s, and was served by CN Rail's Chester Subdivision rail line running from Hal ...

. Whalen worked with constituents in her riding to lobby both the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

and the provincial government for improved recreational infrastructure. This resulted in construction of the Canada Games Centre which opened on the Mainland Common in November 2010. On January 18, 2007, Whalen confirmed after much speculation that she would run for the leadership of the

. She lost on the second ballot of the leadership to Stephen McNeil by 68 votes, despite the support of the two other candidates in the race, Kenzie MacKinnon and Mike Smith. On October 22, 2013 Whalen 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 ...

by McNeil, as Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance. Whalen has been an advocate for a provincial February holiday since 2005 when she first introduced the ''Joseph Howe Day Act'' in the legislature. Whalen has been persistent in pointing out that the province has only five statutory holidays and has fallen further behind other provinces which have enacted a February holiday. In April 2015, Whalen announced a cut to the Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit program. A controversial decision that was widely debated and protested. Several production studios and film productions in Halifax have cited this credit cut as the reason they've left or may have to leave Nova Scotia. On July 24, 2015, McNeil shuffled his cabinet, moving Whalen to Minister of Justice. On March 24, 2017, Whalen announced she will not run in the

2017 Nova Scotia general election The 2017 Nova Scotia general election was held on May 30, 2017, to elect members to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The Liberals under Premier Stephen McNeil won re-election with a somewhat reduced majority, falling from 34 seats at dissoluti ...

Honours

In 2009, Whalen was honoured by the Cornwallis Progress Club with a Women of Distinction Award in the category of Public Affairs and Communications for her work in the community.

Electoral record

, - ,

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 ...

, Diana Whalen , align="right", 5,569 , align="right", 67.48 , align="right", N/A , - , New Democratic Party , Blake Wright , align="right", 1,448 , align="right", 17.55 , align="right", N/A , - , Progressive Conservative , Jaime D. Allen , align="right", 1,236 , align="right", 14.98 , align="right", N/A , - ,

, Diana Whalen , align="right", 5,030 , align="right", 49.02 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Linda Power , align="right", 3,924 , align="right", 38.24 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Debbie Hum , align="right", 1,084 , align="right", 10.56 , align="right", , - , Independent , Jonathan Dean , align="right", 51 , align="right", 0.50 , align="right", , - ,

, Diana Whalen , align="right", 3,404 , align="right", 37.32 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Linda Power , align="right", 3,040 , align="right", 33.33 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Mary Ann McGrath , align="right", 2,450 , align="right", 26.86 , align="right", , - , - ,

, Diana Whalen , align="right", 3,329 , align="right", 37.71 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Mary Ann McGrath , align="right", 3,034 , align="right", 34.52 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Roberta Morrison , align="right", 2,312 , align="right", 26.14 , align="right", , - , Independent , Greg Lavern , align="right", 152 , align="right", 1.72 , align="right",

2000 municipal elections of the Halifax Regional Municipality

References

External links

Official website

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

Liberal caucus profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whalen, Diana 1956 births Living people Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Dalhousie University alumni Canadian people of Norwegian descent Women MLAs in Nova Scotia Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia Halifax Regional Municipality councillors Women municipal councillors in Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Finance ministers of Nova Scotia Attorneys General of Nova Scotia Female finance ministers Female justice ministers