A.M. "Sandy" Cameron (December 16, 1938 – December 25, 2004) was 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 and businessman. He represented the electoral district of

Guysborough Guysborough (population: 397) is an unincorporated Canadian community in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. Located on the western shore of Chedabucto Bay, fronting Guysborough Harbour, it is the administrative seat of the Guysborough municip ...

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 1973 to 1984. He was a member of 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 Z ...

Early life and career

Born in 1938 at Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, Cameron was the son of Alexander Whitcomb Cameron and Mary Kathryn (MacLean) Cameron. A businessman by career, Cameron was educated at the

Nova Scotia Agricultural College Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) was a publicly owned Canadian university college (founded 14 February 1905 and administered within the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture) located at Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Agricultura ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. He married Shirley Elaine Vatcher in 1961. Both his father, Alexander W. Cameron, and his grandfather, Alexander F. Cameron served as MLAs for Guysborough County. His son Alex Cameron (born 1964) became an Anglican Church of Canada priest and was in 2022 elected bishop of the

Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. It has parishes in the several counties of Western Pennsylvania. In addition, the diocese has oversight of several parishes that are not located within its g ...

Political career

Cameron entered provincial politics in 1973, winning a byelection in the Guysborough riding. In August 1973, Cameron 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 Fisheries. He was re-elected in the 1974 election, and continued to serve in the fisheries portfolio. In February 1976, he was given an additional role in cabinet as Minister of Lands and Forests. In October 1976,

Gerald Regan Gerald Augustine Paul Regan (February 13, 1928 – November 26, 2019) was a Canadian politician (as Member of Parliament (Canada), federal MP and later as Nova Scotia House of Assembly, Nova Scotia MLA), who served as the 19th premier of Nova Sc ...

shuffled his cabinet, moving Cameron to Minister of Development. Cameron was re-elected by 13 votes in the 1978 election, but moved to the opposition benches as Regan's Liberal government was defeated.

As leader of the Liberal Party

On April 3, 1980, Cameron announced his candidacy for the

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. At the leadership convention on June 8, Cameron defeated MLA

Vince MacLean Vincent James MacLean (born December 8, 1944)Normandin, PG ''Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1977'' was leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party in 1985 and again from 1986 to 1992. He was replaced by John Savage. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scot ...

on the third ballot to win the leadership. In the 1981 election, the Liberals were reduced to 13 seats as John Buchanan's Tories were re-elected with a bigger majority. However, Cameron was re-elected in his own riding by over 600 votes, and continued to serve as party leader. He led the Liberals into the 1984 election, but the party was reduced to 6 seats, while their popular vote dropped to 31 per cent. Cameron was also defeated in his own riding, losing to Progressive Conservative

Chuck MacNeil Charles Wyndham MacNeil (December 2, 1944 – June 18, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Guysborough in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1984 to 1993. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative ...

by 390 votes. Cameron announced in December that he would resign as Opposition leader when an interim leader in the legislature was chosen. He was succeeded by Vince MacLean.

Death

Cameron died on December 25, 2004, in his hometown of Sherbrooke after a brief battle with cancer.

References

Entry from Canadian Who's Who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Sandy 1938 births 2004 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia McGill University alumni Nova Scotia Agricultural College alumni Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Nova Scotia political party leaders People from Guysborough County, Nova Scotia