Eileen O'Connell (July 5, 1947 – September 27, 2000) 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 A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the Member of 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 ...

for

Halifax Fairview Halifax Armdale is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. This Halifax district covers the growing population of the Fairmount, Armdale and Cowie Hill areas. The north ...

from 1996 until her death in 2000 from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. She belonged to the

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 ...

. O'Connell was born in 1947 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 ...

, and raised in

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

. A graduate of

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

, O'Connell attended both Dalhousie and St. Mary's Universities, where she earned a degree in Education. She taught at

Halifax West High School Halifax West High School is a Canadian public high school located in the Clayton Park neighbourhood in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Encompassing grades 10 through 12, Halifax West High School offers a variety of courses in bo ...

for 14 years, and then at Cornwallis Junior High School. She was a founding member of the Association for Media Literacy, a board member of the Planned Parenthood Metro Clinic, and a chair of the Halifax Association for Community Living's Flowers of Hope Campaign.

Political life

O'Connell held various positions with the New Democratic Party before becoming an MLA. She first ran in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

elections in the constituency 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 ...

but was unsuccessful. In the 1993 election, she made a third unsuccessful run at a seat, this time in the riding of

Halifax Chebucto Halifax Chebucto is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It is one of several ridings within the Halifax Regional Municipality. It encompasses the neighbourhood kno ...

, losing a close race to Liberal

Jay Abbass Jay Abbass (born 1957) is a lawyer, businessman, former stockbroker and former political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Halifax Chebucto in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1993 to 1998 as a Liberal member. Early life He was ...

. O'Connell ran successfully in the 1996

by-election prompted by the resignation of

Alexa McDonough Alexa Ann McDonough ( Shaw; August 11, 1944 – January 15, 2022) was a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's (NSN ...

. She gained the seat with 65.24% of the vote. She was sworn-in as MLA on July 8, 1996. O'Connell's first day in the House of Assembly was November 18, 1996. O'Connelll retained the seat in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

(53.8%) and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

(46.23%). During her tenure as MLA, O'Connell served as Education Critic, Environment Critic, Natural Resources Critic and Forestry Critic for the NDP caucus. She also served on the Human Resources Subcommittee, Standing Committee on Resources, Public Accounts Committee, the Standing Committee on Veteran's Affairs, and the Select Committee on National Unity. At the Nova Scotia NDP Leadership convention in July 2000, she was a member of Helen MacDonald's team, and helped her win the leadership of the Nova Scotia NDP. Shortly after the 1998 election, O'Connell was diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to serve as MLA until her death on September 27, 2000.

Legacy

A memorial bursary in her name is awarded to a Halifax West High School student and to a

J. L. Ilsley High School J.L. Ilsley High School is a Canadian high school located in Spryfield in the eastern part of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The school is named after James Lorimer Ilsley, a former federal cabinet minister who served in Prime Minister William Lyon Macke ...

student each year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Eileen 1947 births 2000 deaths Deaths from breast cancer Canadian people of Irish descent Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLAs People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Women MLAs in Nova Scotia Deaths from cancer in Nova Scotia St. Francis Xavier University alumni Saint Mary's University (Halifax) alumni 20th-century Canadian women politicians