 |
Michelle Dockrill | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Bras d'Or | |
| In office September 22, 1997 –October 22, 2000 | |
| Preceded by | district created |
| Succeeded by | Rodger Cuzner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 22,1959 Glace Bay,Nova Scotia,Canada |
| Political party | New Democratic Party |
Michelle Dockrill (born May 22,1959) is a former Canadian politician who represented the Nova Scotia riding of Bras d'Or in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2000.
Prior to entering politics,Dockrill was a member of the Nova Scotia Government Employee's Union and a receptionist at a Cape Breton health care facility.
Dockrill was nominated to run for the Canadian New Democratic Party in the federal election called for June 2,1997. She was up against then-Health Minister David Dingwall,perceived as the most powerful Nova Scotian figure in the government of then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. With the NDP having only won 5% of the vote in 1993,Dockrill,nominated after the election had already been called,was not taken seriously by Dingwall's Liberals or the NDP,who initially devoted few resources to her campaign.
Dingwall,MP for the area since 1980,was seen as unable or unwilling to use his vast patronage powers to improve living conditions in his impoverished riding. Changes to laws governing unemployment insurance,restrictions on the fisheries,the slow destruction of the area's coal mining industry and problems with health care services all contributed to a growing sense that Dingwall was out of touch.[ citation needed ]
Dockrill ran an aggressive campaign,assisted by resources directed to the riding by then Nova Scotia NDP Provincial Secretary Ron Cavalucci. Cavalucci sent his assistant to manage the campaign;he launched a series of ads accusing Dingwall of lying and implicating him in secret discussions to close the coal mines. Dingwall was seen to lose a CBC Radio debate with Dockrill and the Progressive Conservative candidate.
On election night,Dockrill defeated Dingwall by more than 1,200 votes,capturing 41.30% of the vote.
She worked tirelessly on the issue of the coal industry,the last Cape Breton mine was closed soon after her defeat in the election of November 2000,when she lost in a landslide by Liberal Rodger Cuzner. [1] She achieved brief fame for being the first MP to bring her newborn baby into the House of Commons.
In 2004 Dockrill,who had returned to her previous position working in a health facility,ran for and lost the NDP nomination to newcomer Shirley Hartery,who went on to be defeated by Cuzner in the June election.
| 2019 Canadian federal election : Cape Breton—Canso | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Mike Kelloway | 16,694 | 38.88 | -35.51 | none listed | |||
| Conservative | Alfie MacLeod | 14,821 | 34.52 | +20.07 | $99,102.26 | |||
| New Democratic | Laurie Suitor | 6,354 | 14.80 | +6.59 | none listed | |||
| Green | Clive Doucet | 3,321 | 7.73 | +4.77 | $23,886.83 | |||
| People's | Billy Joyce [2] | 925 | 2.15 | - | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Michelle Dockrill | 685 | 1.60 | - | none listed | |||
| National Citizens Alliance | Darlene Lynn LeBlanc | 140 | 0.33 | - | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 42,940 | 98.62 | $102,831.89 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 601 | 1.38 | +0.75 | |||||
| Turnout | 43,541 | 71.73 | +0.15 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 60,699 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -27.79 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada [3] | ||||||||
| 2000 Canadian federal election : Cape Breton—Canso | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Rodger Cuzner | 20,815 | 54.85 | +16.41 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Alfie MacLeod | 8,114 | 21.38 | +1.12 | ||||
| New Democratic | Michelle Dockrill | 7,537 | 19.86 | -21.44 | ||||
| Alliance | John Currie | 1,483 | 3.91 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 37,949 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | +18.93 | ||||||
| 1997 Canadian federal election : Cape Breton—Canso | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| New Democratic | Michelle Dockrill | 17,575 | 41.30 | |||||
| Liberal | David Dingwall | 16,358 | 38.44 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Frank Crowdis | 8,620 | 20.26 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 42,553 | 100.00 | ||||||
Alexa Ann McDonough was a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's (NSNDP) leader in 1980.
The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social democratic political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party.
Rodger Trueman Cuzner is a Canadian politician and diplomat who currently serves as a Senator for Nova Scotia in the Senate of Canada. He previously served as the Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Cape Breton—Canso and its predecessor, Bras d'Or—Cape Breton, from 2000 to 2019. For most of 2003, he served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister under Jean Chrétien, and served as Parliamentary Secretary for Employment, Workforce Development and Labour in the Trudeau government. Between 2020 and 2023, Cuzner served as the Consul General of Canada to the United States (Boston).
The Cape Breton Labour Party was a social democratic provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada, which drew most of its support from Cape Breton Island, the northern part of the province of Nova Scotia.
Mark Eyking is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Sydney—Victoria from 2000 to 2019 as a member of the Liberal Party.
Cape Breton—Canso is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its population in 2011 was 75,247. It is the successor to Bras d'Or, which was represented in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2004.
David Charles Dingwall is a Canadian administrator, former Canadian Cabinet minister and civil servant. He is the president of Cape Breton University.
James Bernard Boudreau is a Canadian lawyer and politician.
Kenzie MacNeil was a Canadian songwriter, performer, producer and director in television, film, radio and stage, and a former Conservative Party of Canada candidate. MacNeil completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University. He also studied at the University of Botswana in Lesotho and Swaziland while accompanying his parents on field work with CIDA in Africa for three years.
Canadian federal elections have provided the following results in Nova Scotia.
The 2006 Nova Scotia general election was held on June 13, 2006 to elect members of the 60th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
Gordon Leonard Gosse Jr. was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral districts of Cape Breton Nova and Sydney-Whitney Pier in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003 to 2015. He was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party.
Dominic Peter Mancini is a Canadian politician and lawyer. Mancini was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1997 federal election that saw a breakthrough for the New Democratic Party in the province of Nova Scotia. He served as the NDP's justice critic in the 36th Canadian Parliament. Mancini represented the riding of Sydney—Victoria until the 2000 federal election when he was defeated by Liberal Mark Eyking. He moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia following his electoral defeat. He was unsuccessful in his attempt at a comeback in the 2006 federal election in the riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour losing to incumbent Michael Savage by just over 4,000 votes.
Paul MacEwan was a politician from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. His 33 years in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly made him the longest continuous serving Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Nova Scotia history. He was a contentious politician, who seemed to court controversy. So much so, he was kicked out of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP) while he was a sitting member of the assembly in 1980 and caused them to lose official party status without him. He formed his own political party, the Cape Breton Labour Party, to contest the 1984 provincial election. He served one-term as its leader, before the party disintegrated because of financial issues. He eventually joined the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, and became a Liberal member of the legislature. In 1993, he became the Speaker of the House of Assembly. His term as the speaker was marked with many controversies around bias and partisanship. His final years in the legislature saw him take prominent roles as Party Whip for the Liberals. After several health issues, he decided to not run for office again in 2003. He retired and lived another 14 years before finally succumbing to health issues in 2017, at age 74 in Sydney.
Clarence (Clarie) Gillis was a Canadian social democratic politician and trade unionist from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He was born on Nova Scotia's mainland but grew up in Cape Breton. He worked in the island's underground coal mines operated by the British Empire Steel and Coal Company (BESCO). He also served as a member of the infantry in the Canadian Corps in Flanders during the First World War. After the war, he returned to the coal mines and became an official with the mine's United Mine Workers of America (UMW) union. In 1938, he helped bring UMW Local 26 into the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), becoming the first labour local to affiliate with the party. In 1940, he became the first CCF member elected to the House of Commons of Canada, east of Manitoba. While serving in the House, he was known as its leading voice championing labour issues. He was also a main voice for social rights during his 17 years in Parliament. His most notable achievement was securing the funding that allowed the building of a fixed link between Nova Scotia's mainland and Cape Breton Island at the Strait of Canso: the Canso Causeway. After winning four straight elections, he was defeated in 1957 and died three years later in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.
Alfred Wallace MacLeod is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. He is a member of the Progressive Conservatives.
Helen MacDonald is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Cape Breton The Lakes in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1997 to 1999. She was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party.
Rosemary Godin is a former Canadian politician and current writer and Christian minister. She was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 1998 provincial election. She represented the electoral district of Sackville-Beaver Bank as a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP). She served for one term before she was defeated in the 1999 election.
The 2013 Nova Scotia general election was held on October 8, 2013, to elect members to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
Tammy Martin is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2017 provincial election. A member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, she represented the electoral district of Cape Breton Centre.