Francis "Frank" Corbett (born 1954) is a former Deputy Premier of Nova Scotia. He represented the riding of

Cape Breton Centre Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier, formerly Cape Breton Centre is a provincial electoral district in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Its Member of the Legislative Assembly is Kendra Co ...

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 1998 to 2015. He was a member of the

Nova Scotia New Democratic Party The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (Nova Scotia NDP) is a social democratic political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial section for the province of the federal New Democratic Party. It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwe ...

Early life and career

Corbett was born and raised in New Waterford and currently resides in

Lingan Lingan (from the French word “l’indienne") ( Mi'kmawi'simk: ''Milesk'', meaning "place of many resources") is a Canadian suburban community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Its population in 2021 was 229. Lingan is locate ...

. Corbett worked as a television cameraman for

CJCB-TV CJCB-DT (channel 4) is a repeater television station in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station has a transmitter in Blacketts Lake southwest of the city. I ...

, the CTV affiliate 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 ...

and volunteered with the provincial NDP as well as the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

for over 25 years, primarily with the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union. He served as official agent for

Buddy MacEachern James "Buddy" MacEachern (June 29, 1940 – June 15, 2018) was a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia. He represented the electoral district of Cape Breton Centre in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1974 to 1981. He was a member of the Nov ...

's successful elections in the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and 1978 provincial elections.

Political career

Corbett ran for the NDP nomination in the riding of Cape Breton Centre and was first elected in the 1998 provincial election. Corbett was subsequently re-elected in the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and 2013 provincial elections. Following the 2009 election, Corbett 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 Deputy Premier, Minister of the Public Service Commission, and Minister of Communications Nova Scotia. In a March 2013 cabinet shuffle, Corbett was appointed Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, and Minister of Immigration. Along with his cabinet duties, Corbett also served as the Government House Leader. On November 10, 2009, it was revealed that Corbett had the highest meal expense bills on file amongst cabinet members in the new NDP government. A check of ministers' records showed that Corbett expensed $441.48 for six people at

the Keg The Keg is a Canadian-owned chain of steakhouse restaurants and bars operating in both Canada and the United States. The first location, originally named "The Keg and Cleaver" restaurant, was founded in 1971 by George Tidball in North Vancouv ...

restaurant in downtown Halifax on June 19, the night he and his 11 cabinet colleagues were sworn in. In July Corbett expensed $332.90 at CUT Steakhouse in Halifax for a dinner meeting for three people. Two nights later he expensed $250.28 at Ryan Duffy's in Halifax for three people. These revelations came after a statement released in September 2009 in which Corbett stated that because of the province's projected $590-million deficit, MLAs and staff had to be prepared to "lead by example." When news of Corbett's meal expenses was made public, he was quoted as saying "I screwed up and it won't happen again". On April 2, 2015, Corbett announced his resignation as MLA.

Personal life

He is married to Joan and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbett, Frank 1954 births Canadian people of Irish descent Living people Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLAs People from New Waterford, Nova Scotia Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Trade unionists from Nova Scotia 21st-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly