Noël Augustus Kinsella (November 28, 1939 – December 6, 2023) was a Canadian politician and was

speaker of the Senate of Canada The speaker of the Senate of Canada () is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debat ...

from 2006 to 2014.

Early life and education

Noël Augustus Kinsella was born in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

on November 28, 1939. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. He was also an

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas ''Angelicum'' in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, from which he earned a PhL and then a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1965 with a dissertation entitled ''Toward a theory of personality development : a study of the works of Erik H. Erikson''. Furthermore, he received an STL and an STD degree from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He was a Professor for 41 years at St. Thomas University and was a member of the Board of Governors. He also served as chair of the Atlantic Human Rights Centre.

Career

Kinsella was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the recommendation of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

on September 12, 1990, as a Senator for

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 ...

. He sat as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus until 2004, when he joined most of the Tory caucus in becoming a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Senator. Kinsella was Opposition

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

from 1994 to 1999 and deputy leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1999 to 2004. From 2004 to 2006, he was leader of the Opposition in the Senate. On February 8, 2006, he was named Speaker of the Senate by the Governor General,

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian former journalist who served as the 27th governor general of Canada from 2005 to 2010. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person to hold this office. Jean was the Organisation i ...

, on the advice of Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

. Kinsella spoke French, and used it in parliament. He resigned as Speaker on November 26, 2014, in anticipation of his mandatory retirement from the Senate two days later. Kinsella was considered a

Red Tory A Red Tory is an adherent of a Centre-right politics, centre-right or Paternalistic conservatism, paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition. It is most predominant in Canada; however, it is also found in the ...

and supported

Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965), a Canadian lawyer and politician, served as Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and as Minister of Justice (Canada), Minister of Justice and Attorney General (20 ...

in his bid to become leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 2003.

Death

Kinsella died on December 6, 2023, at the age of 84.

Honours and awards

Kinsella was an honorary

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

since December 2008. Kinsella was also a knight of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

. On February 23, 2015, he was sworn in as a Member of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs. Practically, ...

. This gave him the right to the

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

prefix "The Honourable" and the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

"PC" for life.

Honorary degrees

;Honorary degrees

References

External links

*
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, The Speaker of the Senate, ''Biography''
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Noel 1939 births 2023 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian senators from New Brunswick Leaders of the opposition in the Senate of Canada Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Conservative Party of Canada senators Knights of Malta Politicians from Saint John, New Brunswick Pontifical Lateran University alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Speakers of the Senate of Canada 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada Academic staff of St. Thomas University (New Brunswick)