Donald Richard Downe (born 1951) is a farmer and 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

Lunenburg West Lunenburg West is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was created in 1956 from the riding of Lunenburg County. The riding includes the town of Bridgewater, La ...

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 1993 to 2003 as a

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 ...

member.

Early life

Downe was born in

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 ...

. He was a poultry farm owner and was president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture.

Political career

Provincial politics

In 1992, he ran for the

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, losing on the second ballot to John Savage. In the 1993 election, Downe defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister

Marie Dechman Marie P. Dechman is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Lunenburg West in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1988 to 1993. She was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. Political career ...

by almost 3,400 votes in Lunenburg West. On June 11, 1993, Downe 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 Natural Resources. In March 1996, Downe was moved to Minister of Business and Consumer Services, but was shuffled again in June 1996, when he was named Minister of Transportation and Public Works. When

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 Hou ...

was sworn-in as premier in July 1997, Downe remained as Minister of Transportation and Public Works. Downe was re-elected in the 1998 election. On April 8, 1998, he was named Minister of Finance, Minister of Environment, Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, and Deputy Premier. In December 1998, the Environment portfolio was transferred to

Michel Samson Michel P. Samson (born 1972) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Cape Breton-Richmond, formerly Richmond in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 2017. He was a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. S ...

. The Liberals lost government in the 1999 election, but Downe was re-elected by almost 1,000 votes in his riding. Considered a possible

candidate following MacLellan's resignation as leader, Downe declined to enter the race. On November 21, 2002, Downe announced that he would be not be running in the next provincial election, and officially resigned as MLA on February 18, 2003.

Municipal politics

In 2008, Downe returned to politics and was elected the first mayor of the

Municipality of the District of Lunenburg The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, is a district municipality in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. Lunenburg surrounds the towns of Bridgewater, ...

. He was re-elected in 2012. Downe did not for re-election in the 2016 municipal election.

References

Entry from Canadian Who's Who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downe, Don 1951 births Living people Mayors of places in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia Politicians from Charlottetown People from Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians