Graham J. Steele (July 8, 1964,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

) 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 ...

lawyer, author, and former politician, having represented the constituency of

Halifax Fairview Halifax Armdale is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. This Halifax district covers the growing population of the Fairmount, Armdale and Cowie Hill areas. The northe ...

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 2001 to 2013 for 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 ...

. In January 2021, he began service as the Information and Privacy Commissioner for

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

Early life and education

A native of Winnipeg, Steele graduated with a BA from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

and was recipient of the Governor General's Silver Medal. Steele received a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

and attended

St Edmund Hall St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the last ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, graduating in 1986 with a degree in

philosophy, politics, and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in PPE was the Unive ...

. Steele moved to Halifax in fall 1986 to attend

Dalhousie Law School The Schulich School of Law is the law school of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1883 as Dalhousie Law School, it is the oldest university-based common law school in Canada. It adopted its current name in October ...

and graduated with an LLB in 1989.

Legal career

Steele practised law with Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales in Halifax from 1989 to 1993 and was

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to the Nova Scotia Workers Compensation Board from 1993 to 1998. Steele was Research Director for the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

office from 1998 to 2001. Steele has done workshops in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

for the

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a non-profit American non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to "support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability". It is ...

Political career

In 2001 Steele successfully ran for the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party nomination in the riding of Halifax Fairview. He was elected in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in March 2001, winning the seat with 58.17% of the vote. Steele was re-elected in the

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 ...

, (45.85%)

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 ...

(58.51%) and 2009 provincial elections (63.71%). While in official opposition, Steele served as the NDP's

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

for Finance, Environment, Acadian Affairs, Insurance Act, and Treasury and Policy Board. He also served as Deputy House Leader. During this time, Steele also served on the Select Committee on Democratic Participation and was Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. On June 19, 2009, Steele 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 of Finance as well as Minister of Acadian Affairs. On May 30, 2012, Steele resigned from cabinet and announced that he would not be re-offering in the next election. Steele was appointed an honorary member of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia on May 31, 2012. Steele was re-appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia on May 10, 2013 where he took over as Minister of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism, as well as Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs following the resignation of Percy Paris. Steele served in the Executive Council of Nova Scotia until October 22, 2013.

Life after politics

He became a broadcaster on CBC

Information Morning Information Morning is CBC Radio One's CBC Radio One local programming, local morning show program for mainland Nova Scotia. It is produced out of the studios of CBHA-FM in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax and is simulcast on all CBC Radio One transm ...

, providing a weekly political commentary. In September 2014, he released a memoir called ''What I Learned About Politics: Inside the Rise — and Collapse – of Nova Scotia's NDP Government''. The book was a shortlisted nominee for the 2015

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writers� ...

. Steele taught at the Rowe School of Business at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

from 2016 to 2019.

Personal life

Steele is an Esperantist, having offered part of his legislative website in

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

, and has commemorated Nova Scotia Esperantists in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. He is married to Tilly Pillay and they have two children.

References

External links

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of NunavutNew Books Network audio interview with Graham Steele on his book ''What I learned About Politics''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Graham Nova Scotia New Democratic Party MLAs Lawyers in Nova Scotia Canadian Rhodes Scholars Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Schulich School of Law alumni University of Manitoba alumni Living people 1964 births Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Canadian Esperantists 21st-century Canadian memoirists 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Esperanto in Canada 21st-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly