Keith John Ashfield (March 28, 1952 – April 22, 2018) was a Canadian politician. He served 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 ...

(MP) for the electoral district of

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

from 2008 to 2015 and, before that, was a member of the

New Brunswick Legislature The New Brunswick Legislature is the legislature of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, and the unicameral assembly called the Legislative Assembly of N ...

from 1999 to 2008. He served in the federal cabinet in various capacities from 2008 to 2013.

Early life

The son of Jack Ashfield and Nora Locke, he studied Business at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

for two years.

Political career

Provincial

Ashfield was a

school trustee A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional ar ...

for a number of years and was first a candidate for the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

in the 1991 election. A Progressive Conservative, Ashfield placed third with Confederation of Regions candidate Max White being victorious. Ashfield was again a candidate in

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and was successful, defeating

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

Joan Kingston Joan Margaret Kingston (born January 8, 1955) is a nurse, teacher and former political figure in New Brunswick, Canada. She represented New Maryland in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick as a Liberal member from 1995 to 1999. She was b ...

in the riding of New Maryland. He was named

deputy speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

of the Legislature. Ashfield faced Kingston again in

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and won again though by a closer margin. He was sworn in as Minister of Natural Resources & Energy on June 27, 2003. He was elected to a third term in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

in the redistributed district of New Maryland-Sunbury West, however he left the cabinet as his party formed the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

following the election. On March 6, 2018, Ashfield ran for the Progressive Conservative nomination in

Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was first contested in the 2014 general election, having been created in the 2013 redistribution of electoral bounda ...

. The nomination ultimately went to Mary Wilson.

Federal

On November 7, 2007, he won the nomination to be the candidate of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

for the next federal election. When the election was called, he resigned his provincial seat. He was elected in the 2008 federal election and re-elected in the 2011 federal election. Ashfield was appointed

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans The minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the o ...

on May 18, 2011. Ashfield co-chaired the annual meeting of the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM) in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

in 2012. Ministers discussed a range of issues such as aquaculture, aquatic invasive species, and protecting Canada's fisheries. In March 2013, Ashfield faced criticism for a photo-op during which he remarked to the teenage daughter of a constituent, "Grace, you’re a great cook. You’re going to make a wonderful wife for somebody." Later that year, he was replaced as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and left the Cabinet. He was defeated in the 2015 federal election.

Personal life and death

In October 2012, Ashfield had a heart attack and temporarily gave his role to then National Revenue Minister

Gail Shea Gail A. Shea (born April 6, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Egmont from 2008 to 2015. She was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 2000 to 2007, representing the ...

. In June 2013, Ashfield announced he had been diagnosed with

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

. When he declared his candidacy for the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election held on October 19, 2015, saw the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, win 184 seats, allowing it to form a majority government with Trudeau becoming the next prime minister. The election was held to elect m ...

, he had beaten his cancer that had returned in Fall 2014. The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick officially announced Keith Ashfield's death in the early afternoon of April 22, 2018.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashfield, Keith 1952 births 2018 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick Politicians from Fredericton Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from New Brunswick University of New Brunswick alumni