Donald Richard Downe (born 1951) is a farmer and political figure in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. He represented

Lunenburg West Lunenburg West is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was created in 1956 from the riding of Lunenburg County. The riding includes the town of Bridgewater, LaH ...

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 1993 to 2003 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

member.

Early life

Downe was born in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. He was a poultry farm owner and was president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture.

Political career

Provincial politics

In 1992, he ran for the

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, losing on the second ballot to John Savage. In the 1993 election, Downe defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Marie Dechman by almost 3,400 votes in Lunenburg West. On June 11, 1993, Downe 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 Minister of Natural Resources. In March 1996, Downe was moved to Minister of Business and Consumer Services, but was shuffled again in June 1996, when he was named Minister of Transportation and Public Works. When

Russell MacLellan Russell Gregoire MacLellan (born January 16, 1940) is a Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Nova Scotia from 1997 to 1999. Federal politics He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1979 federal election ...

was sworn-in as premier in July 1997, Downe remained as Minister of Transportation and Public Works. Downe was re-elected in the 1998 election. On April 8, 1998, he was named Minister of Finance, Minister of Environment, Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, and Deputy Premier. In December 1998, the Environment portfolio was transferred to

Michel Samson Michel P. Samson (born 1972) is a Canadians, Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Cape Breton-Richmond, formerly Richmond (Nova Scotia provincial electoral district), Richmond in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1 ...

. The Liberals lost government in the 1999 election, but Downe was re-elected by almost 1,000 votes in his riding. Considered a possible

candidate following MacLellan's resignation as leader, Downe declined to enter the race. On November 21, 2002, Downe announced that he would be not be running in the next provincial election, and officially resigned as MLA on February 18, 2003.

Municipal politics

In 2008, Downe returned to politics and was elected the first mayor of the

Municipality of the District of Lunenburg The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, is a district municipality in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. Lunenburg surrounds the towns of Bridgewater, ...

. He was re-elected in 2012. Downe did not for re-election in the 2016 municipal election.

References

Entry from Canadian Who's Who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downe, Don 1951 births Living people 21st-century mayors of places in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Deputy premiers of Nova Scotia Politicians from Charlottetown People from Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 21st-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly