Jamie Muir (born February 2, 1941) is a Canadian educator and politician. He represented the electoral district of

Truro-Bible Hill Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River is a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The electoral district was created in 1978 and was named ...

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 1998 to 2009. He was a member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia The Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia (formerly Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia), is a moderate political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically as ...

Background

Born in 1941 at

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Mi'kmaq: ''Wagobagitik''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Truru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at ...

, Muir graduated 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 ...

with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degree before completing his Master's and Doctorate degrees in education at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. In 1964, he married Mary Jean Cox. They have four children.

Employment history

Muir taught as a Frontier College instructor and a high school teacher in Truro before serving as Director of Inspection Services in the

Nova Scotia Department of Education The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is a department of the Government of Nova Scotia responsible for overseeing education institutions in the province. Becky Druhan is the current Minister of Education. Histo ...

. He also served as inspector of schools in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

and Hants counties. He has taught at the post-secondary level, lecturing at

University of Prince Edward Island The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is a public university in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and the only university in the province. Founded in 1969, the enabling legislation is the ''University Act, R.S.P.E.I 2000.'' H ...

, serving as assistant professor at

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

, senior research associate at the Atlantic Institute of Education, principal of the

Nova Scotia Teachers College The Nova Scotia Teachers College (NSTC) was a normal school located in the Canadian town of Truro, Nova Scotia. History The Nova Scotia Teachers College was founded as the Provincial Normal School by an act of the Nova Scotia House of Assembl ...

from 1989 to 1994 and as a faculty member in the education department at

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 ...

Political career

Muir entered provincial politics in the 1998 election, defeating former Liberal cabinet minister

Eleanor Norrie Eleanor Elizabeth Tucker Norrie (born 1942) is a former teacher, restaurant owner and politician in Nova Scotia, Canada. She represented Truro-Bible Hill in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1993 to 1998 as a Liberal member. Norrie was bor ...

in the Truro-Bible Hill riding. He was re-elected in the 1999 election. In August 1999, Muir 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 Health. On December 19, 2002, Muir was moved to Attorney General and Minister of Justice. In the 2003 election, Muir was re-elected by over 1500 votes. On August 15, 2003, Muir was moved to Minister of Education in a post-election cabinet shuffle. He retained the education portfolio when

Rodney MacDonald Rodney Joseph MacDonald (born January 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician, educator and musician who served as the 26th premier of Nova Scotia from 2006 to 2009 and as MLA for the riding of Inverness in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1999 ...

took over as premier in February 2006. Muir was re-elected in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. On June 26, 2006, MacDonald shuffled his cabinet, moving Muir to Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. In October 2007, Muir was given an additional role in cabinet as chair of the Treasury and Policy Board. Muir announced on December 29, 2008, that he would not reoffer in the next election, and was shuffled out of cabinet on January 7, 2009. He returned to cabinet on March 10, 2009, taking over as Minister of Finance and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, following the death of Michael Baker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, Jamie 1941 births Canadian people of Scottish descent Dalhousie University alumni Living people Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Ministers of Health Academic staff of Nova Scotia Teachers College People from Truro, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Academic staff of St. Francis Xavier University Curry School of Education alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians Finance ministers of Nova Scotia