Stewart Donald McInnes (July 24, 1937 – October 3, 2015) was a Canadian lawyer, arbitrator and federal politician.

Education

In 1954, while studying at Dalhousie University, he became a brother in the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...

fraternity, who later named him a Significant Sig.

Law career

From 1961 to 1999, McInnes was a senior partner in the

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

law firm of

McInnes Cooper McInnes Cooper is a full-service Canadian law firm with nearly 200 lawyers. It is centrally located in Atlantic Canada, with offices in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. As a multi-service firm, McIn ...

, and appeared before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. He also served as the president of the

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 ...

branch of the Canadian Bar Association from 1983 to 1984.

Political career

In the 1984 general election, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Progressive Conservative

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 o ...

for Halifax, defeating

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Cabinet minister and former Premier of Nova Scotia

Gerald Regan Gerald Augustine Paul Regan (February 13, 1928 – November 26, 2019) was a Canadian politician (as Member of Parliament (Canada), federal MP and later as Nova Scotia House of Assembly, Nova Scotia MLA), who served as the 19th premier of Nova Sc ...

. In 1985, he was appointed to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Brian Mulroney's cabinet as

Minister of Supply and Services Minister of Supply and Services was an office in the Cabinet of Canada from 1969 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, office of the Minister of Supply and Services and the office of the Minister of Public Works were abolished and replaced with the office of ...

. From 1986 until 1988, he concurrently held the positions of

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

and Minister responsible for CMHC. McInnes was defeated in the 1988 federal election by Liberal

Mary Clancy Mary Catherine Clancy (born 13 January 1948) is a Canadian former politician and former lawyer. She was the Member of Parliament representing Halifax from 1988 to 1997. Career Clancy won the Halifax electoral district for the Liberal Party in ...

due, in part, to the unpopularity of the

Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), official name as the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States of America (french: links=no, Accord de libre-échange entre le Canada et les États-Unis d'Amérique), wa ...

in Atlantic Canada. He returned to his law practice full-time.

After politics

He was a certified arbitrator and mediator and focused professionally in those areas after leaving politics. McInnes served as Director of the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada from 1993 to 1995 and as director of the Atlantic Arbitration and Mediation Institute from 1993 to 1994. In 1996, he was on the International Mediation Centre’s advisory board, and in 1999, he was a panel member of the Canadian Foundation for Dispute Resolution. He has lectured and written extensively on the topic of mediation and arbitration. After leaving the House of Commons, McInnes remained active in politics as a fundraiser for the

Progressive Conservative Association 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 ...

. McInnes died on October 3, 2015.

Electoral record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McInnes, Stewart 1937 births 2015 deaths Schulich School of Law alumni Canadian people of Scottish descent People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Lawyers in Nova Scotia Canadian King's Counsel Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry