Maureen MacDonald (born 1954) 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 ...

academic and politician. She represented the riding of

Halifax Needham Halifax Needham is a provincial electoral district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It has existed since 1967, though its boundaries have changed periodically. Halifax Needham encompa ...

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 2016. She served as the interim leader of the

Nova Scotia New Democratic Party The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social-democratic, progressive provincial party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial entity of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C ...

from November 23, 2013 to February 27, 2016.

Early life and career

A native of

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 ...

, MacDonald graduated in 1979 with a MSW from the Maritime School of Social Work at

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 ...

. She was employed as a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

at the

Nova Scotia Hospital The Nova Scotia Hospital, known locally as The NS or Mount Hope, is a psychiatric hospital in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Operated by the Nova Scotia Health Authority, it is the province's largest and oldest mental health facility. Co-founded by the Ho ...

(Adolescent Services) and later was a faculty member at her alma mater where she taught social policy and community development. MacDonald also worked at Dalhousie Legal Aid, the North End Clinic and the North End Parent Resource Centre.

Political career

MacDonald was first elected as MLA for

in the 1998 provincial election, after having previously run in the same riding in

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 ...

. She was subsequently re-elected in the

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 ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

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 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and 2013 provincial elections. MacDonald sought the leadership of the NS NDP in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, finishing a strong third. On June 19, 2009 MacDonald 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 she served as Minister of Health as well as Minister of Health Promotion and Protection. On May 30, 2012, Premier Darrell Dexter shuffled his cabinet, appointing MacDonald as Minister of Finance. On May 10, 2013 MacDonald was appointed Minister of African Nova Scotia Affairs. MacDonald was one of only seven NDP MLAs returned in the 2013 provincial election in which the Dexter government was defeated. On November 16, 2013, it was announced that MacDonald would become the party's interim leader when Dexter steps down as leader on November 23, 2013. On April 12, 2016, MacDonald announced she was resigning as MLA.

Electoral record

, - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 3,391 , align="right", 44.03 , align="right", -23.80 , - , Liberal , Chris Poole , align="right", 3,115 , align="right", 40.45 , align="right", +19.22 , - , Progressive Conservative , Mary D.S. Hamblin , align="right", 834 , align="right", 10.83 , align="right", +4.65 , - , align="right", 361 , align="right", 4.69 , align="right", -0.08 , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 5,337 , align="right", 67.83 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Graham Estabrooks , align="right", 1,670 , align="right", 21.23 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Jason Cameron , align="right", 486 , align="right", 6.18 , align="right", , - , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 4,438 , align="right", 60.62 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Andrew Black , align="right", 1,330 , align="right", 18.17 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Dr. Errol Guam , align="right", 1,220 , align="right", 16.66 , align="right", , - , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 3,709 , align="right", 50.26 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Mike Rogers , align="right", 2,178 , align="right", 29.51 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Linda Carvery , align="right", 1,377 , align="right", 18.66 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 3,525 , align="right", 44.95 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Linda Carvery , align="right", 2,185 , align="right", 27.86 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Mike Rogers , align="right", 1,970 , align="right", 25.12 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 4,837 , align="right", 58.51 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Gerry O'Malley , align="right", 2,506 , align="right", 30.31 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Atho Kartsaklis , align="right", 924 , align="right", 11.18 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Gerry O'Malley , align="right", 3,469 , align="right", 41.91 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 2,693 , align="right", 32.53 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Randy Dewell , align="right", 2,116 , align="right", 25.56 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Edmund Morris , align="right", 3,173 , align="right", 39.97 , align="right", , - , New Democratic Party , Maureen MacDonald , align="right", 2,514 , align="right", 31.67 , align="right", , - , Liberal ,

Walter Fitzgerald Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor. Early life Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army dur ...

, align="right", 2,208 , align="right", 27.81 , align="right", , - ,

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, Bernice Kaizer , align="right", 44 , align="right", 0.55 , align="right",

References

External links

Official website

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

NDP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Maureen 1954 births Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLAs Leaders of the Nova Scotia CCF/NDP Women MLAs in Nova Scotia Living people Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia People from Antigonish, Nova Scotia Female Canadian political party leaders Finance ministers of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Ministers of Health 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Female finance ministers