Mel K. Norton is a Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Saint John,

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 ...

from 2012 to 2016.

Early life and career

Norton was born in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

and started his early life on

Grand Manan Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan is also the name of an incorporated village, which includes the main island and all of its adjacent islands, except White Head Island. It is governed as a village and is part of t ...

. He completed a bachelor of arts degree with a major in political science at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

in Saint John, and then attended law school at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton graduating in 1999. Norton was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar in 2000 and has practiced law with Lawson Creamer since that time, becoming a partner in 2010. His practice has focused on labour and employment as well as debtor/creditor law and construction litigation. Norton has been involved in the Canadian Bar Association as a past chair of the Young Lawyers Section as well as an executive member of the Labour and Employment Group. He served five years as a legal officer with the Canadian Forces during which time he also sat on the CBA's Lawyers Assistance Program committee. His community volunteer work has included participation on a committee to establish a ward system in Saint John, the board of the Saint John Theatre Company and the board for the Abby St. Andrews Mixed Income Housing Project. Norton currently resides in Saint John with his wife Stephanie.

Political career

Norton was first elected to public office as Ward 3 councillor during a by-election in December 2010. On May 14, 2012, he was elected as the 66th mayor of Saint John in a landslide victory, earning 75.6 per of the vote and taking every poll in every neighbourhood. On January 14, 2016, Norton announced he would not seek re-election as mayor in the 2016 municipal election. On May 4, 2016, Norton announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick. On October 22, 2016, Norton was defeated on the third ballot of the

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

by Blaine Higgs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Mel Living people Mayors of Saint John, New Brunswick People from Grand Manan University of New Brunswick alumni Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick politicians University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)