He served as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development in the Ball government from 2015 to 2018.
Early life
Kirby was born in St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula. He was raised on a small farm in Lord's Cove where generations of his family have worked in inshore fishing industries. Kirby began working at an early age at Kirby's Store,later Kirby's Kwik-Way,a family-run grocery and convenience store. He graduated from St. Joseph's Academy in 1989.
University studies and student activism
Kirby earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland before completing a doctorate in higher education theory and policy studies at the University of Toronto. While at university,he held a number of elected student union positions at the local,provincial,and national levels. As chairperson of the Newfoundland and Labrador component of the Canadian Federation of Students in the 1990s,Kirby led a successful campaign to freeze college and university tuition fees in Newfoundland and Labrador.[1]
Academic career
In 2006,Kirby was appointed an assistant professor of post-secondary education studies in the Faculty of Education at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He was promoted to the position of associate professor in 2011. Prior to joining Memorial University,he worked as a senior advisor on education policy in the Ontario Public Service.[2]
Kirby is a professor,researcher,and consultant on student access and participation in college and university and in the area of online learning.[3] In recognition of his contributions and advocacy,the Canadian Council on Learning named him a Minerva Scholar in 2007.[4] In 2011,he received the R. W. B. Jackson Award from the Canadian Educational Researchers Association as well the Best Research Paper Award at the 2011 European Distance and E-Learning Network Annual Conference.[5][6]
Kirby was sworn at Government House as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development by Lieutenant Governor Frank Fagan on December 14,2015.[15][16] Kirby was Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development for Newfoundland and Labrador from 2015 to 2018 during which time he oversaw the implementation of full-day Kindergarten across the province. He also oversaw the work of the Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes which carried out a comprehensive review of the Newfoundland and Labrador public school system.[17]
On April 30,2018 Kirby resigned from the Liberal cabinet following allegations of harassment by Liberal MHAs Colin Holloway and Pam Parsons. Kirby sat as an Independent during an investigation of the complaint by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards.[18][19] On August 27,2018,CBC released a copy of a report by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards that cleared him and Eddie Joyce of wrongdoing in all the allegations made by fellow Liberal MHA Colin Holloway.[20] On October 20,2018,Kirby shared the results of the report regarding MHA Pam Parsons’complaint to the public. Kirby was cleared on all complaints,except ”seeking a personal benefit”in a comment to Parsons about a school petition at the 2016 Liberal Party AGM;the report recommended a sanction by the House of Assembly on that count.[21][22][23]
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