Thomas Johnson McInnis (born April 9, 1945) is a retired

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 ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He also represented the electoral district of

Halifax Eastern Shore Eastern Shore is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. In 1967, the district was created as Halifax Eastern Shore. Upon the recommendations of the 1992 Electoral Bound ...

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 1978 to 1993, as a member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia The Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia (formerly Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia), is a moderate political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically as ...

. Born on April 9, 1945 in

Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia Sheet Harbour is a rural area, rural community in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the eastern reaches of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, approximately northeast of the central urban area of the municipality, con ...

, McInnis attended Saint Mary's University and earned his law degree from

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 ...

. He specializes in property and commercial law and public-private partnerships. He is the president of the Sheet Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce and was appointed to the

Halifax Port Authority The Port of Halifax comprises various port facilities in Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It covers of land, and looks after of water. Strategically located as North America's first inbound and last outbound gateway, the port o ...

in 2008.

Political career

McInnis entered provincial politics in the 1978 election, defeating Liberal cabinet minister

Alexander Garnet Brown Alexander Garnet Brown (May 2, 1930 – January 7, 2010) was a Canadian businessman and politician who served in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1969 to 1978. He represented the electoral district of Halifax Eastern Shore as a Liberal. B ...

in the Halifax Eastern Shore riding. On October 5, 1978, McInnis 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 Transportation. McInnis was re-elected in the 1981 election, and was named Minister of Municipal Affairs in a post-election cabinet shuffle. McInnis was re-elected in the 1984 election, and became Minister of Education in November 1985. He was moved to Minister of Community Services in November 1987. Following his re-election in the 1988 election, McInnis was named Attorney General. In September 1990, John Buchanan resigned as premier, and a

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

was scheduled for February 1991. On November 7, 1990, McInnis announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. At the leadership convention, McInnis was eliminated following the second ballot, finishing third behind

Donald Cameron Donald Cameron may refer to: Scottish Clan Cameron * Donald Cameron of Lochiel (c. 1695 or 1700–1748), 19th Chief, and his descendants: ** Donald Cameron, 22nd Lochiel (1769–1832), 22nd Chief ** Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1835–1905), Scott ...

and

Roland Thornhill Roland John Thornhill (born September 3, 1935) is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Dartmouth South in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1974 to 1993. He is a member of the Progressive Conservative. Thornhill ...

. On February 26, 1991, Cameron was sworn-in as premier and named McInnis as Minister of Industry and Deputy Premier of Nova Scotia. He was moved to Minister of Labour in November 1992. In the 1993 election, McInnis ran in the new riding of Eastern Shore, and lost to Liberal

Keith Colwell Keith Wayne Colwell (born October 3, 1947) is a Canadian politician, who served as a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, representing the riding of Preston-Dartmouth for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, from 1993 to 1999 and from 2003 to ...

by 237 votes. In the 2000 federal election, McInnis was the Progressive Conservative candidate in Dartmouth, but finished third behind NDP incumbent

Wendy Lill Wendy Lill (born November 2, 1950) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and radio dramatist who served as an NDP Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2004. Her stage plays have been performed extensively in theatres across Canada as well as inter ...

and Liberal

Bernie Boudreau James Bernard Boudreau (born July 25, 1944) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. Provincial politics Boudreau was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from Cape Breton The Lakes in the 1988 provincial election. He was re-elected in 19 ...

. In September 2012, McInnis was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McInnis, Tom 1945 births Living people Lawyers in Nova Scotia Canadian senators from Nova Scotia Conservative Party of Canada senators Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs People from the Halifax Regional Municipality Schulich School of Law alumni Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians