Keith Wayne Colwell (born October 3, 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 served as a 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 ...

, representing the riding of

Preston-Dartmouth Preston-Dartmouth was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The riding was created in 2012 as Dartmouth-Preston, with 100 per cent of the former district of Preston, 1 ...

for 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 ...

, from 1993 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2021.

Early life

Colwell was raised in Jemseg,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Since the 1990s, he has owned and operated a manufacturing company and was one of the founding members of the Enterprise Forum for Nova Scotia.

Political career

Colwell successfully ran for 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 ...

nomination in the riding of Eastern Shore in spring 1993. He was elected in the 1993 provincial election and was re-elected in the 1998 provincial election. Following his re-election, Colwell 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 ...

where he served as Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Minister of Consumer Services, as well as holding other cabinet responsibilities. Colwell was defeated in the 1999 provincial election by Bill Dooks. Turning to municipal politics, Colwell was elected to

Halifax Regional Council Halifax Regional Council (french: Conseil régional d'Halifax) is the governing body of Halifax, known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographi ...

on October 30, 1999, in a by-election for the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, 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 ...

where he represented District 3 ( Preston/

Porters Lake Porters Lake (2011 population: 3,202) is a rural community in the Eastern Shore region of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, between Trunk 7 and Route 207, 27.8 km from Halifax. The residents mainly commute to jobs in Dartmouth, Burnside ...

). Colwell was re-elected in District 3 in the 2000 municipal general election. Colwell successfully ran for the Liberal nomination in the riding of Preston and was elected in the 2003 provincial election. He was re-elected in the

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 ...

and 2009 provincial elections. The riding name was changed in 2013 to

and he was re-elected in the 2013 provincial election. Colwell was honoured for his efforts in successfully banning the burning of tires in Nova Scotia and has been a volunteer fireman with 13 years of experience. In May 2013, Colwell was allegedly the victim of an assault by

Percy Paris Percy Alonzo Paris is a Canadians, Canadian former politician from Nova Scotia. He represented the constituency of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party between 2006-2013. ...

, a fellow member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia. "Yesterday in the house of assembly, I was assaulted and threatened by the minister of economic and rural development and tourism," Colwell said in a statement. "This improper behaviour by the minister was quite clearly an execution of a threat and intimidation, an attempt to prevent me from performing my function as a legislator, elected representative for my constituents and member of this assembly." Paris was charged with assault and uttering threats. On October 22, 2013, Colwell was appointed to the

where he serves as Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Minister of Agriculture, Minister responsible for Part II of the Gaming Control Act, as well as Minister responsible for the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission Act.

Personal life

He and his wife Elizabeth currently live in

Electoral record

, - ,

, Keith Colwell , align="right", 3,326 , align="right", 58.39 , 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 ...

, André Cain , align="right", 1,816 , align="right", 31.88 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Andrew J. Mecke , align="right", 554 , align="right", 9.73 , align="right", , - ,

, Keith Colwell , align="right", 1908 , align="right", 42.20 , align="right", , - ,

, Janet Sutcliffe , align="right", 1316 , align="right", 29.11 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative ,

Dwayne Provo Dwayne Provo (born October 7, 1970) is a Canadian athlete, school administrator, and politician. Early life Provo was born in North Preston, Nova Scotia (one of Canada's largest Black communities) and attended university at Saint Mary's Univers ...

, align="right", 1240 , align="right", 27.43 , align="right", , - , - ,

, Keith Colwell , align="right", 1853 , align="right", 42.13 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative ,

, align="right", 1610 , align="right", 36.83 , align="right", , - ,

, Douglas Sparks , align="right", 843 , align="right", 19.17 , align="right", , - , - ,

, Keith Colwell , align="right", 1411 , align="right", 33.90 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , David Hensbee , align="right", 1361 , align="right", 32.92 , align="right", , - ,

, Douglas Sparks , align="right", 1331 , align="right", 31.97 , align="right", , - , - , Progressive Conservative , Bill Dooks , align="right", 3637 , align="right", , align="right", , - ,

, Keith Colwell , align="right", 2695 , align="right", , align="right", , - ,

, Mary-Alice Tzagarakis , align="right", 1970 , align="right", , align="right", , - ,

, Keith Colwell , align="right", 3,760 , align="right", , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Tom McInnes , align="right", 3,523 , align="right", , align="right", , - ,

, Gary Moore , align="right", 1,369 , align="right", , align="right",

References

External links

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

Liberal caucus profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwell, Keith Living people Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs 1947 births Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia People from Queens County, New Brunswick Halifax Regional Municipality councillors 21st-century Canadian politicians