Michael Alexander Laffin (January 12, 1918 – May 23, 2019) was a Canadian politician and dentist. He represented the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Cape Breton Centre Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier, formerly Cape Breton Centre is a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of ...

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 1963 to 1974, and 1981 to 1988. He was a Progressive Conservative.

Career

Laffin was first elected in the 1963 provincial election, defeating New Democrat House leader

Michael James MacDonald Michael James MacDonald (August 8, 1909''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1956'', PG Normandin – July 3, 1997) was a union leader, coal miner, volunteer firefighter and politician in Nova Scotia. Born and raised in Cape Breton Regional Munici ...

. He was re-elected in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

elections. Laffin was defeated when he ran for re-election in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, losing his seat to New Democrat James "Buddy" MacEachern. In the 1981 election, Laffin returned to politics and defeated MacEachern to regain the seat. Following the election, he 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 Housing. Laffin was re-elected 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 retained his cabinet seat until a cabinet shuffle in November 1985, when he was appointed Minister of Government Services. On July 24, 1988, Laffin resigned from cabinet and announced that he would not seek re-election in the 1988 election. In August 2012, Laffin was interviewed about his experience as a prisoner of war during World War II.

Personal life

Born in 1918 in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, Laffin was educated 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 ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, and was a dentist by career. Laffin died in May 2019 at the age of 101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laffin, Mike 1918 births 2019 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia People from New Waterford, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs St. Francis Xavier University alumni McGill University alumni Canadian centenarians Men centenarians