Keith Wayne Colwell (born October 3, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

politician, who served as a member of the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia Each General Assembly of the ...

, representing the riding of Preston-Dartmouth for the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Za ...

, from 1993 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2021.

Early life

Colwell was raised in Jemseg,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

. Since the 1990s, he has owned and operated a manufacturing company and was one of the founding members of the Enterprise Forum for Nova Scotia.

Political career

Colwell successfully ran for the Liberal nomination in the riding of

Eastern Shore Eastern Shore may refer to: * Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia), a region * Eastern Shore (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia * Eastern Shore of Maryland, a region * Eastern Shore of Virginia, a region * Eastern Shore (Al ...

in spring 1993. He was elected in the 1993 provincial election and was re-elected in the 1998 provincial election. Following his re-election, Colwell 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 simi ...

where he served as Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Minister of Consumer Services, as well as holding other cabinet responsibilities. Colwell was defeated in the 1999 provincial election by

Bill Dooks Bill Dooks (born January 24, 1956) is a Canadian politician, who served as the Progressive Conservative member for Eastern Shore in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1999 to 2009. Born in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia, Dooks worked in ...

. Turning to municipal politics, Colwell was elected to Halifax Regional Council on October 30, 1999, in a by-election for the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The re ...

where he represented District 3 (

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

/ Porters Lake). Colwell was re-elected in District 3 in the 2000 municipal general election. Colwell successfully ran for the Liberal nomination in the riding of

and was elected in the 2003 provincial election. He was re-elected in the 2006 and 2009 provincial elections. The riding name was changed in 2013 to Preston-Dartmouth and he was re-elected in the 2013 provincial election. Colwell was honoured for his efforts in successfully banning the burning of tires in Nova Scotia and has been a volunteer fireman with 13 years of experience. In May 2013, Colwell was allegedly the victim of an assault by

Percy Paris Percy Alonzo Paris is a Canadian former politician from Nova Scotia. He represented the constituency of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party between 2006-2013. A native ...

, a fellow member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia. "Yesterday in the house of assembly, I was assaulted and threatened by the minister of economic and rural development and tourism," Colwell said in a statement. "This improper behaviour by the minister was quite clearly an execution of a threat and intimidation, an attempt to prevent me from performing my function as a legislator, elected representative for my constituents and member of this assembly." Paris was charged with assault and uttering threats. On October 22, 2013, Colwell was appointed to the

where he serves as Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Minister of Agriculture, Minister responsible for Part II of the Gaming Control Act, as well as Minister responsible for the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission Act.

Personal life

He and his wife Elizabeth currently live in Porters Lake.

Electoral record

, - , Liberal , Keith Colwell , align="right", 3,326 , align="right", 58.39 , align="right", , - ,

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

, André Cain , align="right", 1,816 , align="right", 31.88 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Andrew J. Mecke , align="right", 554 , align="right", 9.73 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Keith Colwell , align="right", 1908 , align="right", 42.20 , align="right", , - ,

, Janet Sutcliffe , align="right", 1316 , align="right", 29.11 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Dwayne Provo , align="right", 1240 , align="right", 27.43 , align="right", , - , - , Liberal , Keith Colwell , align="right", 1853 , align="right", 42.13 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Dwayne Provo , align="right", 1610 , align="right", 36.83 , align="right", , - ,

, Douglas Sparks , align="right", 843 , align="right", 19.17 , align="right", , - , - , Liberal , Keith Colwell , align="right", 1411 , align="right", 33.90 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , David Hensbee , align="right", 1361 , align="right", 32.92 , align="right", , - ,

, Douglas Sparks , align="right", 1331 , align="right", 31.97 , align="right", , - , - , Progressive Conservative ,

, align="right", 3637 , align="right", , align="right", , - , Liberal , Keith Colwell , align="right", 2695 , align="right", , align="right", , - ,

, Mary-Alice Tzagarakis , align="right", 1970 , align="right", , align="right", , - , Liberal , Keith Colwell , align="right", 3,760 , align="right", , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Tom McInnes , align="right", 3,523 , align="right", , align="right", , - ,

, Gary Moore , align="right", 1,369 , align="right", , align="right",

References

External links

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

Liberal caucus profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwell, Keith Living people Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs 1947 births Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia People from Queens County, New Brunswick Halifax Regional Municipality councillors 21st-century Canadian politicians