Raymond John Skelly (July 1, 1941 – July 14, 2019) was 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 ...

politician. A teacher by profession, Skelly was first elected as the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

Member of Parliament for

Comox—Powell River Comox—Powell River was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1988. This riding was created in 1976 from parts of Coast Chilcotin, Comox–Alberni and ...

in the 1979 federal election. He served for fourteen years until being defeated in the 1993 federal election in the renamed riding of

North Island—Powell River North Island—Powell River is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997, and again since 2015. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Comox—Pow ...

. This defeat was partly in response to the electorate's dissatisfaction with the provincial government led by New Democratic Party Premier

Mike Harcourt Michael Franklin Harcourt Officer of the Order of Canada, OC (born January 6, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th List of mayors of Vancouver ...

. As a result, 15 of 17 incumbent New Democratic Party parliamentarians failed in their re-election bids in 1993. During his time in Parliament, Skelly served as critic on several portfolios of particular concern to his constituents including economic development in Western Canada, fisheries, and mines & energy. He attempted a comeback in the 2000 federal election in

Cariboo—Chilcotin Cariboo—Chilcotin was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons from 1979 to 2003. Geography It consisted initially of: * the Cariboo Regional District; * the Squamish–Lillooe ...

but was defeated. He is the brother of fellow politician Bob Skelly, who served in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

and led the

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...

. In the 1988 federal election, Ray and Bob pulled off a rare feat with both elected to the 34th Parliament and are the most recent siblings to have served in Parliament together.

References

Sources

* 1941 births 2019 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia New Democratic Party MPs 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{BritishColumbia-MP-stub