Terry Donahoe | |
|---|---|
| MLA forHalifax Cornwallis | |
| In office 1978–1993 | |
| Preceded by | George M. Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | riding dissolved |
| MLA forHalifax Citadel | |
| In office 1993–1997 | |
| Preceded by | Art Donahoe |
| Succeeded by | Ed Kinley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Terence Richard Boyd Donahoe October 30, 1944 Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Died | November 29, 2005(2005-11-29) (aged 61) Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Party | Progressive Conservative |
Terence Richard Boyd Donahoe (October 30, 1944 – November 29, 2005) was aNova Scotia opposition leader, cabinet minister, and MLA.
Terry Donahoe was born inHalifax on October 30, 1944.[1] His fatherRichard was Mayor of Halifax, served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Public Health and Welfare and Attorney General and was aSenator.[2] Donahoe's older brotherArt was also an MLA and served asSpeaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia.[3]
Donahoe was educated at St. Mary's High School in Halifax, after which he went toSaint Mary's University. He graduated in 1964 and then attendedDalhousie Law School.[4] After completing his law degree, he joined the Halifax law firm of Blois, Nickerson, Palmeter and Bryson in 1967.
He was elected to theNova Scotia House of Assembly in the1978 provincial election as aProgressive Conservative, serving for 19 years. He representedHalifax Cornwallis from 1978 to 1993, thenHalifax Citadel (succeeding his brother Art) until he resigned in 1997 to run federally.[5]
In Cabinet, he served in several posts, including Education, Tourism and Culture, Environment, Labour, Attorney General and Chair of the Management Board.[4] He held the education portfolio for eight years. In that ministry, he was a strong supporter of the public education system, pushing for more money for schools and championing new programs. He also amalgamated the several hundred school boards into just under thirty, and introduced the firstAcadian school board, precursor of the present-dayProvincial Acadian School Board. TheEducation Act of 1981 gave legal recognition to the category of "Acadian schools" where French is taught as a first language and where French is used as a language of instruction.
When PremierDonald Cameron stepped down on election night after the Conservatives' were defeated in 1993, Donahoe was named interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives and leader of the official opposition. In this capacity, he was credited with providing direction and holding together a demoralized caucus in disarray. He served for two years before being succeeded byJohn Hamm who later led the party to power in the 1999 provincial election.
In the1997 federal election, he ran for theProgressive Conservatives inHalifax.[6] That campaign was a three way race which sawNew Democratic Party leaderAlexa McDonough get elected, while Donahoe finished second, ahead ofLiberal incumbent,Mary Clancy.[7]
| 1997 Canadian federal election:Halifax | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Alexa McDonough | 21,837 | 49.02 | +36.80 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Terry Donahoe | 10,361 | 23.26 | +1.63 | ||||
| Liberal | Mary Clancy | 9,638 | 21.64 | -25.78 | ||||
| Reform | Steve Greene | 2,422 | 5.44 | -8.31 | ||||
| Natural Law | Gilles Bigras | 197 | 0.44 | |||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Tony Seed | 89 | 0.20 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 44,544 | 99.44 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 252 | 0.56 | ||||||
| Turnout | 44,796 | 68.85 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 65,061 | |||||||
| New Democraticnotional gain fromLiberal | Swing | +31.29 | ||||||
In 1985, Donahoe was awarded an honorary doctorate in education froml'Université Sainte-Anne. In 2001, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Saint Mary's University.[4] Donahoe also donated a plaque commemorating the connection between Saint Mary's and the Charitable Irish Society.
Donahoe died of cancer on November 29, 2005, at the age of 61.[8][9][10]