Stewart McInnes

The Honourable
Stewart McInnes
PC, QC
Member of Parliament
for Halifax
In office
1984–1988
Preceded byGerald Regan
Succeeded byMary Clancy
Personal details
Born
Stewart Donald McInnes

(1937-07-24)July 24, 1937
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
DiedOctober 3, 2015(2015-10-03) (aged 78)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative
ProfessionLawyer

Stewart Donald McInnes (July 24, 1937 – October 3, 2015) was a Canadian lawyer, arbitrator and federal politician.

Education

In 1954, while studying at Dalhousie University, he became a brother in the Sigma Chi fraternity, who later named him a Significant Sig.[1]

Law career

From 1961 to 1999, McInnes was a senior partner in the Halifax, Nova Scotia law firm of McInnes Cooper, and appeared before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. He also served as the president of the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Bar Association from 1983 to 1984.

Political career

In the 1984 general election, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Halifax, defeating Liberal Cabinet minister and former Premier of Nova Scotia Gerald Regan.[2]

In 1985, he was appointed to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's cabinet as Minister of Supply and Services.[3] From 1986 until 1988, he concurrently held the positions of Minister of Public Works and Minister responsible for CMHC.[4]

McInnes was defeated in the 1988 federal election by Liberal Mary Clancy due, in part, to the unpopularity of the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement in Atlantic Canada.[5][6] He returned to his law practice full-time.

After politics

He was a certified arbitrator and mediator and focused professionally in those areas after leaving politics. McInnes served as Director of the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada from 1993 to 1995 and as director of the Atlantic Arbitration and Mediation Institute from 1993 to 1994. In 1996, he was on the International Mediation Centre’s advisory board, and in 1999, he was a panel member of the Canadian Foundation for Dispute Resolution. He has lectured and written extensively on the topic of mediation and arbitration.

After leaving the House of Commons, McInnes remained active in politics as a fundraiser for the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia.

McInnes died on October 3, 2015.[7]

Archives

There is a Stewart McInnes fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[8]

Electoral record

1988 Canadian federal election: Halifax
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Mary Clancy 22,470 43.00 +8.64
Progressive Conservative Stewart McInnes 19,840 37.97 -6.80
New Democratic Ray Larkin 9,269 17.74 -2.71
Libertarian Howard J. MacKinnon 292 0.56
Communist Miguel Figueroa 151 0.29
Independent Tony Seed 134 0.26
Commonwealth of Canada J. Basil MacDougall 94 0.18
Total valid votes 52,250 100.00
Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative Swing +7.72
1984 Canadian federal election: Halifax
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Stewart McInnes 18,779 44.78 +6.19
Liberal Gerald Regan 14,411 34.36 -7.27
New Democratic Tessa Hebb 8,576 20.45 +0.78
Independent Ignatius Kennedy 174 0.41
Total valid votes 41,940 99.33
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 285 0.67 +0.14
Turnout 42,225 76.38 +8.61
Eligible voters 55,286
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +6.73

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-11-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Tory tide claims 25 seats of 32 in Atlantic region". The Globe and Mail. September 5, 1984.
  3. ^ "PM shuffles problems aside, boosts image in Maritimes". The Globe and Mail. August 21, 1985.
  4. ^ "Mulroney fires 4 ministers in mid-term cabinet shuffle". The Globe and Mail. July 1, 1986.
  5. ^ "Liberals' red tide sweeps Atlantic provinces". The Globe and Mail. November 22, 1988.
  6. ^ "Atlantic tide turns Liberal 2 ministers go down to defeat". Toronto Star. November 22, 1988.
  7. ^ "Lawyer and former politician Stewart McInnes dies at 78". The Chronicle Herald. October 4, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
  8. ^ "Stewart McInnes fonds, Library and Archives Canada". 25 November 2016. Retrieved 2020-09-16.