Cecil Edwin Kinley (January 16, 1932 – January 19, 2015) was 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 and heart surgeon. He represented the electoral district of

Halifax Citadel Citadel Hill is a hill that is a National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Four fortifications have been constructed on Citadel Hill since the city was founded by the English in 1749, and were referred to as Fort George—but only ...

in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from November 1997 to March 1998. He was 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 Zach ...

Early life and career

Born in 1932 in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, Kinley graduated with a medical degree from

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 ...

in 1956. He married Sara Jane Hawk. In 1963, Kinley joined the Dalhousie Surgery Department, where he practiced until 1998. Considered to be a pioneer in the cardiovascular surgery field, Kinley performed the first adult open heart surgery and coronary bypass in Nova Scotia. Kinley started the cardiac surgery program at the IWK Children's Hospital and adult cardiac surgery at the

Victoria General Hospital Victoria General Hospital (VGH) is an acute care facility located in View Royal, British Columbia, Canada, a western suburb of Victoria. VGH provides emergency, general surgery and medical treatment services. It is one of two acute-care hospital ...

. He also established the first cardiac intensive care unit in Atlantic Canada, and implanted the first pacemaker in Atlantic Canada live on CBC Television.

Political career

Kinley entered provincial politics in 1997, running as the Liberal candidate in a byelection for the Halifax Citadel riding. On November 4, 1997, he defeated NDP candidate

Peter Delefes Peter Delefes is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Halifax Citadel in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 1999 as a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party. Delefes is a life-long resident of th ...

by 165 votes to win the byelection. In the 1998 election, initial results had Kinley losing to Delefes by 125 votes. However, there was some confusion over the calculation of poll results and Delefes' margin of victory was reduced to 40 when official results were announced. A judicial recount was held on April 14, and Delefes was officially declared elected by 37 votes. Kinley ran again in the 1999 election, but finished third as Progressive Conservative Jane Purves won the seat, defeating Delefes by 434 votes. In April 2000, Kinley was elected president of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.

Later life

Following his political career, Kinley continued to assist during major surgeries, while performing some smaller surgeries until his retirement at age 76. In 2013, Kinley was a recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia. Kinley died on January 19, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinley, Ed 1932 births 2015 deaths Dalhousie University alumni Members of the Order of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Politicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia