Karen Lynn Casey (born April 24, 1947) is 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, who represented the electoral district of Colchester North 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 ...

, first as a Progressive Conservative (2006 to 2011), and then as member of the

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 ...

caucus from 2011 to 2021.

Personal life

Casey (''née'' Thompson) grew up in Bass River. Casey volunteered as chair of the now-defunct

Colchester-East Hants Health Authority The Nova Scotia Health Authority is a provincial health authority serving Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the largest employer in the province, with more than 23,000 employees, 2,500 physicians and 7,000 volunteers working from 45 different facilities. ...

Education career

Casey graduated in 1967 with a diploma from 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 ...

. She later received a B.A. from

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate programs in Arts, S ...

, a B.Ed. from Mount Saint Vincent University and a M. Ed. (Administration) from Saint Mary's University. Casey has worked as a classroom teacher at various schools in Colchester County in both the Truro Municipal School Board, the Colchester County Municipal School Board, the Colchester-East Hants District School Board, and ended her career with the

Chignecto-Central Regional School Board The Chignecto-Central Regional Centre for Education is a Canadian public school district in Nova Scotia. History CCRCE (originally CCRSB) was founded in 1996 under an Order in Council passed by the Executive Council of Nova Scotia pursuant to the ...

. She is a former principal of North River Elementary School and served as Assistant Superintendent of the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board. When working as a classroom teacher at Alice Street Elementary School in the Truro Municipal School Board during the 1970-71 school year, Casey served as the school staff's local representative of the

Nova Scotia Teachers Union The Nova Scotia Teachers Union was organized in 1895–96 to unify and elevate the teaching profession in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. As the unified voice for the advocacy and support of all its members, the NSTU promotes and advances ...

during a

work-to-rule Work-to-rule (also known as an Italian strike, in Italian: ''Sciopero bianco'', or Slowdown in US usag is a job action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract or job, and strictly follow time-cons ...

job action undertaken by the NSTU.

Political career

PC Party 2006–2011

Casey successfully ran for the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding of Colchester North in spring 2006, beating one other candidate. Casey was elected to the

in the 2006 provincial election held that June. Casey served in 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 ...

from 2006–2009, serving first as the Minister of Education, and later as Minister of Health. On June 24, 2009, Casey was named the Progressive Conservative Party's interim leader, replacing

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 ...

after he resigned following the party's defeat in the 2009 provincial election. She served as interim leader until announcing her resignation on August 16, 2010.

Liberal Party 2011–present

On January 10, 2011, Casey

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to join the

caucus. Casey successfully ran for the Liberal nomination in the riding of Colchester North in spring 2013. Casey was re-elected in the 2013 provincial election, garnering 5,005 of the 8,212 votes cast or 60.95% of the vote in the riding. On October 22, 2013 Casey was appointed to the

as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development as well as Minister responsible for Youth. On July 24, 2015, Casey was given as additional role as Chair of Finance and Treasury Board, while responsibility for youth was transferred to Kelly Regan. On June 15, 2017, premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet, appointing Casey as Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Treasury Board. On January 21, 2021, Casey announced that she did not intend to run in the next provincial general election.

Electoral record

, - ,

, Karen Casey , align="right", 3,654 , align="right", 46.6 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Rebecca Taylor , align="right", 3,225 , align="right", 41.0 , align="right", , - ,

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 ...

, James Finnie , align="right", 980 , align="right", 12.5 , align="right", , - , - ,

, Karen Casey , align="right", 5,005 , align="right", 60.95 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , John Kendrick MacDonald , align="right", 2,167 , align="right", 26.39 , align="right", , - ,

, Jim Wyatt , align="right", 1,040 , align="right", 12.66 , align="right", , - , - , Progressive Conservative , Karen Casey , align="right", 3784 , align="right", 50.16 , align="right", , - ,

, Arthur Hartlen , align="right", 2354 , align="right", 31.20 , align="right", , - ,

, Lorenda Ebbett , align="right", 1243 , align="right", 16.48 , align="right", , - ,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

, Judy Davis , align="176 , align="right", 2.35 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Karen Casey , align="right", 3809 , align="right", 50.96 , align="right", , - ,

, Bob Taylor , align="right", 1979 , align="right", 26.47 , align="right", , - ,

, Rob Assels , align="right", 1511 , align="right", 20.21 , align="right", , - ,

, Judy Davis , align="176 , align="right", 2.35 , align="right",

References

External links

Official website
copy archived May 8, 2021
Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

Liberal caucus profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Karen 1947 births Living people Female Canadian political party leaders People from Colchester County Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Women MLAs in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Teachers College alumni Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Ministers of Health Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia Finance ministers of Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Female finance ministers Nova Scotia political party leaders