Michael Alexander Laffin (January 12, 1918 – May 23, 2019) was a Canadian politician and dentist. He represented the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Cape Breton Centre Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier, formerly Cape Breton Centre is a provincial electoral district in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Its Member of the Legislative Assembly is Kendra Co ...

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 1963 to 1974, and 1981 to 1988. He was a Progressive Conservative.

Career

Laffin was first elected in the 1963 provincial election, defeating New Democrat House leader Michael James MacDonald. He was re-elected in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

elections. Laffin was defeated when he ran for re-election in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, losing his seat to New Democrat James "Buddy" MacEachern. In the 1981 election, Laffin returned to politics and defeated MacEachern to regain the seat. Following the election, he 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 Housing. Laffin was re-elected in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, and retained his cabinet seat until a cabinet shuffle in November 1985, when he was appointed Minister of Government Services. On July 24, 1988, Laffin resigned from cabinet and announced that he would not seek re-election in the 1988 election. In August 2012, Laffin was interviewed about his experience as a prisoner of war during World War II.

Personal life

Born in 1918 in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, Laffin was educated at

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, and was a dentist by career. Laffin died in May 2019 at the age of 101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laffin, Mike 1918 births 2019 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia People from New Waterford, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs St. Francis Xavier University alumni McGill University alumni Canadian men centenarians 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly