Russell Vincent MacKinnon is a Canadian politician 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 ...

. He represented Cape Breton West 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 1988 to 1995 and then from 1998 to 2006 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 ...

and then Independent member.

Political career

First elected in the

1988 Nova Scotia general election The 1988 Nova Scotia general election was held on September 6, 1988, to elect members of the 55th House of Assembly of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative party. John Dunsworth, who would later gain ...

, MacKinnon later served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Labour when the Liberal took power. In 1994, MacKinnon was suspended from the Liberal caucus for refusing to vote in favor of the government's municipal services exchange bill. MacKinnon sat as an independent until he resigned his seat on April 10, 1995, to make an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of the

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Cape Breton Regional Municipality (often referred to as simply "CBRM") is the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia's second largest municipality and the economic heart of Cape Breton Island. As of 2021 the municipa ...

. He was reelected in 1998. He sat as an independent from April 2005 and did not run for reelection in 2006, when he was defeated in a bid to win the Progressive Conservative nomination in Cape Breton West.

Criminal charges

On February 14, 2011, it was announced that MacKinnon was among four people facing criminal charges in connection with the RCMP investigation into 2010s MLA expense scandal. MacKinnon was charged with fraud exceeding $5,000, breach of trust by a public officer, and 8 counts of uttering a forged document. On May 3, 2012, MacKinnon pleaded not guilty and went to trial on the charges in March 2013. On March 15, 2013, MacKinnon stopped testifying at his trial and pleaded guilty to breach of trust, and was sentenced to an eight-month conditional sentence.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackinnon, Russell Living people Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Nova Scotia Independent MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia 20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 21st-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Year of birth missing (living people)