Shahine Elizabeth Robinson ( née Fakhourie; 4 July 1953 – 29 May 2020) was a Jamaican politician, who served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security. She was a member of the Parliament of Jamaica for Saint Ann North Eastern. She served briefly as the Transport and Works Minister from late November 2011 to January 2012.
Saint Ann Parish
Saint Ann is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called "the Garden Parish of Jamaica" on ac ...
, where her parents Peter and Kathleen and grandparents all lived. She graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Jamaica and went on to
Miami Dade College
Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College S ...
, where she earned an associate degree in marketing and a diploma in public relations. She lived in the U.S. intermittently from 1978 to 2001.
Career
Before entering politics, Robinson worked in the banking and tourism sectors. She had been involved at the margins of politics for almost two decades as a JLP supporter, and was tapped by then-Leader of the Opposition
Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005. She was first elected to Parliament after the resignation of
People's National Party
The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...
MP Danny Melville in 2001, defeating the PNP's Carol Jackson in the resulting by-election. She was naturalised as a U.S. citizen in 2006, while sitting in Parliament. However, the following year, she renounced her citizenship at an Immigration and Naturalization Service office in
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is an island town in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The population was 12,344 at the 2010 census.
Key Biscayne lies south of Miami Beach and east of Miami. The village is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originall ...
in advance of the 2007 Jamaican general election. She went on to defeat PNP candidate Oswest Senior-Smith in that election by 2,022 votes.
After the 2007 election, former legislator Manley Bowen of the PNP, who was registered as a voter in Robinson's constituency, sought a declaration from the Supreme Court that she was not qualified to be elected due to her alleged dual citizenship. Robinson continued to hold her parliamentary seat until a court removed her in 2010 and ordered her to pay legal costs of J$15.3 million to Bowen. She went through with the formal renunciation procedure, and obtained a Certificate of Loss of Nationality in December 2010. She then won back her old seat in a by-election that month, defeating PNP challenger Devon Evans, and was sworn back in as an MP in January 2011.
In November 2011, Robinson filed a challenge to the costs order in the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was excessive; she particularly objected to the J$5 million paid to professor David P. Rowe for a legal opinion about her citizenship, arguing that the information could have been obtained at much lower cost from U.S. government sources. Later that month, PM
Andrew Holness
Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has been the Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, following the 2016 Jamaican general election. Holness previously served as prime minister from October 2011 to ...
named her Transport and Works Minister, succeeding Mike Henry; the move was a surprise even to Robinson herself. However, in December 2012, Bowen filed a notice of bankruptcy against Robinson in an attempt to compel her to pay the costs he had been awarded. If adjudged bankrupt, Robinson would be disqualified to sit in Parliament. In April 2013, on the day before Supreme Court Justice Lennox Campbell was scheduled to issue his ruling on the costs order appeal, Robinson came to a settlement with Bowen whereby she would pay JM$4 million, or slightly more than a quarter of his original claim.
Death
Robinson died of
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
on 29 May 2020. She was 66. A private funeral service was held at the St Matthews Anglican Church in ClaremontSaint Ann on July 17 2020.