Gerald Joseph O'Malley (25 November 1927 – 16 November 2018) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He represented the electoral district of

Halifax Needham Halifax Needham is a provincial electoral district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It has existed since 1967, though its boundaries have changed periodically. Halifax Needham encompa ...

in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (; ), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature. The assembly is ...

from 1988 to 1998, as a member of the Liberals. An avid educational advocate, O’Malley worked at

Nova Scotia Community College Nova Scotia Community College or NSCC is a Canadian community college serving the province of Nova Scotia through a network of 14 campuses and three community learning centres. The college delivers over 130 programs in five academic schools: Acc ...

as a principal before entering politics. He sat in the Nova Scotia Assembly for a decade and became the minister of supply and services and then minister of science and technology under the premier, John Savage.

Early life

O'Malley was born in Halifax in 1927 to Michael O'Malley and Mary Brackett. He was educated at Saint Mary's University, originally wanting to be an electrician. He was in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

, retiring in 1967. An avid educational advocate, O'Malley was a vocational teacher and later a principal at the Akerley campus of the

in Halifax.

Career

In 1980, O'Malley was elected to Halifax City Council, where he was deputy mayor in 1984. O'Malley entered provincial politics in the 1988 election, defeating

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

Maureen MacDonald Maureen MacDonald (born 1954) is a Canadian academic and politician. She represented the riding of Halifax Needham in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 2016. She served as the interim leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party fr ...

by 776 votes in the Halifax Needham riding. He was re-elected in the 1993 election, defeating his New Democrat opponent by 972 votes. He served as a backbench member of John Savage's government until March 1995, when he 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 s ...

as Minister of Supply and Services. In March 1996, O'Malley was shuffled to minister of science and technology. When

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. Federal politics He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1979 federal election ...

was sworn-in as premier in July 1997, O'Malley was moved to minister of labour. O’Malley was moved to the labour portfolio, where he brought in safety training changes in the wake of the Westray mining disaster that resulted in 26 deaths. During his time as minister of supply and services, O'Malley once faced public criticism and outcry when he was in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to announce the plan to cap the tar ponds. Protesters forced him to cut short the event and he was escorted out of the room due to security concerns as the protests intensified. Despite indications he might retire, O'Malley ran for re-election 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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, but was defeated by New Democrat Maureen MacDonald by over 2,300 votes.
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Personal life

O'Malley married Marie Elizabeth Langan in 1953. They had four children. He continued to live in Nova Scotia until his death at his Halifax home on 16 November 2018, nine days before his 91st birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Gerry 1927 births Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs 2018 deaths Nova Scotia municipal councillors Politicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Saint Mary's University (Halifax) alumni 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly