Gerald "Gerry" Fogarty is a former sportscaster and politician. He was the last

Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia The Speaker for the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia is the presiding Officer of the House of Assembly. Keith Bain is the current Speaker of the 64th General Assembly of Nova Scotia. The Speaker presides over the proceedings of the Assembly, maint ...

to be appointed by the Premier rather than elected by his peers.

Before politics

Fogarty was a

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 ...

based sportscaster for the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

in the 1970s and 1980s and was known nationally for his on-air role during international hockey broadcasts carried on CBC.

Political career

He was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly representing

Halifax Bedford Basin 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 d ...

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 ...

in the 1993 provincial election and was appointed chairman of the legislature's community services committee which studied the introduction of

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s to the province. In 1997, Fogarty was appointed

. He was re-elected in the 1998 provincial election. The election resulted in a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

with the Liberals and NDP both winning 19 seats and the Progressive Conservatives winning 14. The choice of Speaker became a contentious issue with Liberal Premier

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 ...

supporting Fogarty to continue in the position while the Opposition parties demanded that the Speaker be elected by the legislature rather than appointed by the Premier which had been the practice until then. The Liberals agreed to an election and the opposition Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats combined to defeat Fogarty and elect Conservative MLA

Ron Russell Ronald Stanley Thornton Russell (22 July 1926 – 7 March 2019) was a Canadian politician and pilot who lived in Nova Scotia. Early life and education Russell was born in Ngongotahā, New Zealand. He was a pilot for the Royal New Zealand Air Fo ...

as the new Speaker. Fogarty was also defeated in his attempt to win the position of Deputy Speaker by NDP MLA

Don Chard Don Chard (born February 29, 1924) is a Canadian former politician. He represented the electoral district of Dartmouth South in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 1999. He was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party. Cha ...

. The government was defeated within a year and Fogarty did not re-offer in the 1999 provincial election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fogarty, Gerry Year of birth missing (living people) Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Speakers of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Living people