Robert Lawrence Chisholm (born August 31, 1957 in
Kentville
Kentville is an incorporated town in Nova Scotia. It is the most populous town in the Annapolis Valley. As of 2021, the town's population was 6,630. Its census agglomeration is 26,929.
History
Kentville owes its location to the Cornwallis River ...
,
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 four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
)
is a former trade unionist and politician from Nova Scotia,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. He represented the
Halifax Atlantic
Halifax Atlantic is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
The Member of the Legislative Assembly since 2013 has been Brendan Maguire of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. ...
riding 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 1991 to 2003. He succeeded
Alexa McDonough as 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 ...
(NDP) in 1996.
He served as the leader of the Official Opposition in the Nova Scotia Legislature from 1998 to 1999. He subsequently founded a consulting firm, was co-chair of the 2010–11 United Way of Halifax Region campaign, and sat on the Board of Governors of
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 ...
. On May 2, 2011, Chisholm was elected as the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for the
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour (formerly Dartmouth and Dartmouth—Halifax East) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004.
Demographics
''From the 2021 census '' ...
riding in Nova Scotia. As a member of the Official Opposition, he served as the Critic for Fisheries and Oceans and Deputy Critic for Employment Insurance until his defeat in the 2015 election.
Provincial politics
1998 Nova Scotia general election
The NDP scored a surprise electoral success in the
1997 federal election, winning six of Nova Scotia's eleven electoral districts.
This new-found electoral success boded well for the NDP's provincial party, which was able to take advantage of the new wave of popularity.
Prior to 1997, the Nova Scotia NDP had not been considered contenders to form a provincial government.
Chisholm subsequently lead the NDP to a record 19 seats (out of the House of Assembly's 52 seats) in the
1998 provincial election, putting them in a tie with the governing
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. The Liberals were able to continue ruling, as they received support from the third-place
Progressive Conservatives, who held 14 seats.
The NDP formed the
Official Opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
, marking the first time they attained that position; the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...
(CCF), were the last
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
party to hold that title, back in 1949.
1999 Nova Scotia election
15 months later, the Liberal government was defeated by a motion of non-confidence from the Conservatives, forcing an
election in the summer of 1999. During the campaign, it was revealed that Chisholm had a past criminal record for driving under the influence of alcohol when he was 19 years old. The NDP lost eight seats during the campaign, which saw the third-place Conservatives elected to a majority government. During this period, the NDP shared official opposition status with the Liberals (as both held 11 seats). The NDP became sole official opposition upon Russell MacLellan's resignation, and the subsequent election of Progressive Conservative Cecil Clark, which gave the NDP 11 seats to the Liberals' 10.
Chisholm unexpectedly resigned the leadership after the campaign, at the November 6, 1999 NSNDP provincial council meeting.
He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and could not subject them to ten more years of political life.
He remained sitting as an MLA in the Legislature and remained as leader until a new one was elected.
He was succeeded by
Helen MacDonald in 2000; and after she could not win a seat in the house,
Darrell Dexter
Darrell Elvin Dexter (born 1957) is a Canadian lawyer, journalist and former naval officer who served as the 27th premier of Nova Scotia from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, he served as party leader from 2001 t ...
eventually became the leader in 2001. Chisholm did not run for re-election as an MLA in
2003 provincial election.
Private life
After the 2003 provincial election, Chisholm returned to the labour movement and worked as researcher for the
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workpl ...
(CUPE).
Since 2004, he has been a member of Dalhousie University's board of governors.
[
] In 2007, he became CUPE's Regional Director for the Atlantic Region.
In the spring of 2009, he started a consulting firm with his wife Paula Simon: Simon Chisholm Consulting.
Return to politics
On January 18, 2011, Chisholm announced that he would seek the
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:
*
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nomination in
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour (formerly Dartmouth and Dartmouth—Halifax East) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004.
Demographics
''From the 2021 census '' ...
for the
2011 federal election, and was officially nominated on January 25. On May 2, 2011, he was elected, winning 15,661 votes and defeating
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
incumbent
Mike Savage.
Following the death of federal NDP leader
Jack Layton
John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...
, Chisholm was a candidate in the
2012 New Democratic Party leadership election
The 2012 New Democratic Party leadership election (NDP), was held March 24, 2012, in order to elect a permanent successor to Jack Layton who had died the previous summer.
The New Democratic Party's executive and caucus set the rules for the ...
, but after speaking English during a leadership debate in French on account of his lack of fluency in the latter language, he withdrew in December 2011 and subsequently endorsed
Thomas Mulcair
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
.
In the
2015 federal election, Chisholm was defeated by Liberal
Darren Fisher
Darren Fisher (born September 10, 1965) is a Canadian Liberal politician who has represented the riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour
Dartmouth—Cole Harbour (formerly Dartmouth and Dartmouth—Halifax East) is a federal electoral district ...
.
Electoral history
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Robert
1957 births
Living people
Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLAs
Leaders of the Nova Scotia CCF/NDP
New Democratic Party MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
Carleton University alumni
Dalhousie University alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians
People from Kentville, Nova Scotia