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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician, who served as a member of 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 ...

, representing the riding of Preston-Dartmouth for the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party (officially the Liberal Association of Nova Scotia) is a Centrist politics, centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently hol ...

, from 1993 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2021.

Early life

Colwell was raised in Jemseg,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. 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 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 s ...

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. Turning to municipal politics, Colwell was elected to

Halifax Regional Council Halifax Regional Council () is the governing body of Halifax, known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographic districts though a first-past-th ...

on October 30, 1999, in a by-election for the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

where he represented District 3 ( Preston/ 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 Preston and was elected in the 2003 provincial election. He was re-elected in the

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 ...

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, 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; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, 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 , Bill Dooks , 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 members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly