Suzanne M. Duff ( Frecker; born August 22, 1936) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 12th mayor of St. John's from 1990 to 1993 and as a member of the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Building in St. J ...

."Shannie Duff retires from St. John's city council"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...

Newfoundland and Labrador, May 28, 2013.

Politics

Duff entered municipal politics in 1977 as a member of St. John's City Council. By 1982, she was

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

of the city. She was elected to the provincial legislature in the

1989 election The following elections occurred in the year 1989. Africa * 1989 Beninese parliamentary election * 1989 Botswana general election * 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election * 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * 198 ...

, representing St. John's East as a member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador The Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is a provincial political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The party was founded in 1949 and most recently formed the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador from the 20 ...

. Unusually, she did not resign her city council seat, but continued to hold both positions with the intention of completing her term on city council,"Newfoundland Conservative resigns post". '' The Globe and Mail'', September 7, 1990. but resigned the provincial seat to run for mayor of St. John's in 1990 after incumbent mayor

John Joseph Murphy John Joseph Murphy Former Mayor of St. John’s, NL (September 24, 1922 – December 15, 2010 ) was a businessman and politician, and the 11th mayor of St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Born the son of John Murphy and Gertrude Wadden in St. Joh ...

announced that he would not run for another term. She won that election and served as mayor until 1993, when Murphy ran for mayor again and defeated Duff. She was then reelected to a city council seat in 1997. She briefly served another stint as acting mayor of the city from April to June 2008 following the resignation of Andy Wells, when councillor

Dennis O'Keefe Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer. Early years Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...

stepped down as acting mayor to run in the mayoral by-election. Duff was then elected to the office of deputy mayor in the 2009 municipal election. She held this role until 2013, when she announced her retirement from politics. Upon her announcement, council colleague Gerry Colbert praised Duff particularly for her efforts to preserve the city's distinctive architectural heritage.

Honours

Duff was appointed to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

on March 29, 2003, for outstanding community service. She was appointed to the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Shannie Living people Mayors of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian people of Irish descent Members of the Order of Canada St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador city councillors Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Women mayors of places in Newfoundland and Labrador Women MHAs in Newfoundland and Labrador 1936 births