Shawn Skinner
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Shawn Skinner 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 ...
politician in
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...
, Canada. Skinner is a former St. John's City Councillor (1993-1997; 2020-2021) and former Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for the
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
of St. John's Centre. He served as a MHA from 2003 to 2011 and was a minister in the cabinets of Danny Williams and
Kathy Dunderdale Kathleen Mary Margaret "Kathy" Dunderdale (née Warren; born February 1952) is a politician and former MHA who served as the tenth premier of Newfoundland and Labrador from December 3, 2010, to January 24, 2014. Dunderdale was born and raised in ...
. He is currently the Training Director for the Carpenter Millwright College (United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America).


Background

Skinner was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. He studied at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) before earning a Diploma in Applied Arts from Cabot College and a Certificate in Adult Education from
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 ...
. In 1998, he became a member of the Canadian Institute of Management, from which he was granted the Professional Manager designation. For 20 years Skinner operated Keyin Technical College in St. John's, a private college specializing in business, information technology and health-related fields. From 1993 to 1997 he served as ward two councillor on St. John's City Council.


Provincial politics

In November 2002, Skinner lost the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) nomination in St. John's Centre to Paul Brown, who had been the party's candidate in the previous two elections. However, Brown resigned as the party's candidate the following year and Skinner won the nomination for the district in August 2003. In the October 2003, election Skinner easily defeated Minister of Finance
Joan Marie Aylward Joan Marie Aylward was a Canadian politician, who sat in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly from 1996 to 2003 as a member of the Liberals. She represented the electoral district of St. John's Centre. She was educated at the Genera ...
, winning 55% of the popular vote. In 2006, Skinner was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Premier Danny Williams.


Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment

On January 19, 2007, Skinner was appointed Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment and the Minister responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador Housing. His appointment came after
Paul Shelley Paul Shelley (born Paul Matthews; 15 May 1942) is an English actor. Shelley was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and trained at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art). Since then he has mainly worked in the theatre as a classical actor. ...
, the department's former minister, announced he would not be seeking re-election in the October election. In August 2007, Skinner said he planned to bring forth legislation to protect jobs of reservists who leave work for military duty. Skinner's announcement was in response to Major Wallace Noseworthy, who called for the legislation after he was forced to quit his job in order to serve in Afghanistan. Noseworthy's employer would not grant him a leave of absence to serve. In April 2008, the government brought forth changes to The Labour Standards Act to provide for unpaid leave for reservists. In the October 9, 2007, general election Skinner was re-elected, winning 76% of the popular vote. Weeks later his ministerial portfolio was added to when he became Minister Responsible for Persons with Disabilities and Minister Responsible for the Labour Relations Agency.


Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development

On October 31, 2008, Skinner was appointed Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development.


Minister of Natural Resources

On December 3, 2010,
Kathy Dunderdale Kathleen Mary Margaret "Kathy" Dunderdale (née Warren; born February 1952) is a politician and former MHA who served as the tenth premier of Newfoundland and Labrador from December 3, 2010, to January 24, 2014. Dunderdale was born and raised in ...
succeeded Williams as
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since 1949, the premier's duties and office has been the successor to the ministerial position of the pri ...
. The following week Dunderdale appointed Skinner as Minister of Natural Resources, her former portfolio. His appointment came on the heels of the government signing a partnership agreement to develop a multi-billion dollar hydro development at Muskrat Falls in
Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...
. Despite easily winning his seat in 2003 and 2007, Skinner's St. John's Centre district was seen as being in play in the 2011 election. In the months leading up to the provincial election support for the New Democratic Party had surged and they were running businesswoman and filmmaker Gerry Rogers against Skinner. Skinner received support late in the campaign from St. John's Mayor
Dennis O'Keefe Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer. Early years Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...
, which was seen as an indication that Skinner was in risk of losing his seat. Despite the Progressive Conservative government easily being re-elected, Skinner went down to defeat on election night.


2014 leadership

Following the resignation of Dunderdale as Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, Skinner's name was brought up as a potential successor. In February 2014, in an interview with
The Telegram ''The Telegram'' is a daily newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays (as ''The Weekend Telegram'') in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. History ''The Evening Telegram'' was first published on April 3, 1879 by William James Herd ...
Skinner said “I don’t mind sharing with you that I’m very, very seriously considering this.” Skinner's major issue with regards to entering the race was the spending limit for candidates. Under the party constitution leadership candidates cannot spend over $200,000, but the party was looking at revising that amount upward. Skinner was worried about racking up debt if he lost the race, but felt he could raise $200,000.


Later life

Skinner served as Chair of End Homelessness St. John’s from 2012-2018. In 2015, Skinner served on the Electoral Boundaries Commission charged with reducing the number of seats from 48 to 40. He is currently the Senior Director, Business Development for Aecon Construction Group Limited. Skinner co-chaired the provincial PC Party's 2018 leadership convention. In 2020, Skinner announced his candidacy for the Ward 2 municipal by-election in St. John's. In 2020, Skinner was
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
to the St. John's City Council. He won 22.8% of the vote and defeated 7 other candidates. He did not run for re-election in 2021.


Electoral results

, - ,
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, Gerry Rogers , align="right", 2,569 , align="right", 54.44% , align="right", , - , - , - , - ,
NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...
, Jane Robinson , align="right", 650 , align="right", 14.92% , align="right", , - , - , - , - ,
NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...
, Carol Cantwell , align="right", 956 , align="right", 15.65 , align="right",


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Shawn Members of the Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador city councillors Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian politicians