Wayne Adams, CM ONS (born 1943) 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 ...

former provincial politician who was the first Black Canadian member of 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 ...

and cabinet minister.

Early life

Adams was born in Halifax,

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 ...

in 1943.

Political career

Adams was first elected to the Halifax Municipal Council in 1979 and was re-elected five times. He was deputy mayor from 1982 to 1983. A Nova Scotia Liberal, he was elected in the 1993 Nova Scotia general election in the riding of Preston. He was the Minister of the Environment, Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act, and the Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority in the governments of first John Savage (1993–1997) and then

Russell MacLellan Russell Gregoire MacLellan (born January 16, 1940) is a Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Nova Scotia from 1997 to 1999. Early life MacLellan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Federal politics He was first elected to the H ...

(1997–1998). He was defeated in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

by the NDP candidate, Yvonne Atwell.

Electoral record

Awards and recognition

In 2003, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

, Canada's highest civilian honour. In 2011, he was invested as a member of the

Order of Nova Scotia The Order of Nova Scotia (french: Ordre de la Nouvelle-Écosse) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Instituted on August 2, 2001, when Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman granted Royal Assent to the Order of Nova ...

References

External links

CBC Radio archives: Nova Scotia elects its first black MLA
1943 births Living people Black Canadian politicians Black Nova Scotians Canadian Baptists Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia municipal councillors {{Liberal-NovaScotia-MLA-stub