New Speaker in Nunavut
Kevin J. O'Brien was born on October 26, 1955, in Glace
Bay, Nova Scotia. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on
February 15, 1999. After serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the
Northwest Territories from 1995 to 1999.
Mr. O'Brien was elected as
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on March 29, 2000. He has also
served as the Chair of Full Caucus and as the Chair of the Standing Committee
on Community Empowerment and Sustainable Development, which has oversight
responsibility for the Departments of Justice, Community Government and
Transportation, Sustainable Development and Public Works and Services.
After leaving high school, Mr.
O'Brien worked in the construction industry before attending university. He
received a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from Dalhousie University in
Halifax and a Master of Science degree from North Texas State University in
Dallas, where he was also an instructor.
Since completing his education,
Mr. O'Brien has had fifteen years of experience at various levels of
government. He began by working in the New Brunswick city of Bathurst in 1980,
and then at St. Mary's University in Halifax. He also ran his own company for a
number of years before moving to the Arctic.
Mr. O'Brien's introduction to
northern life was in the Beaufort-Delta region where he was the Senior
Administrative Officer in Tuktoyaktuk. Prior to his election to the Legislative
Assembly, he was Director of the NWT Housing Corporation for the Keewatin
District.
He lives in Arviat, a community whose
population is 95% Inuit, located on the west coast of Hudson Bay. Mr. O'Brien
enjoys an arctic lifestyle, including hunting, fishing and other traditional
activities.
New Speaker in British
Columbia
On March 15, 2000, Bill
Hartley, Member for Maple-Ridge-Pitt Meadows was elected as the 34th
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Mr. Hartley was born
in Vancouver and educated in the Burnaby area, studying political science at
Simon Fraser University.
Mr. Hartley has enjoyed a diverse
career history working as a pottery teacher, childcare worker, music promoter,
and restaurant owner. His numerous community activities include a founding role
in the Alouette Arts Society and the Haney Alliance for Nuclear Discouragement,
as well as involvement with the Fraser Valley Regional Library, Cythera
Transition House, the Ridge Meadows Society for the Mentally Disabled and the
United Way North Fraser Governing Committee. He embarked on his public service
career by serving as executive assistant to former Member of Parliament, Mark
Rose, from 1979-1983. Mr. Hartley also held elected office at the municipal
level, serving as an alderman in Maple Ridge from 1983 to 1987 and as mayor
from 1987 to 1990. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1991,
and re-elected in 1996.
In recent years, Mr. Hartley has
held a number of parliamentary positions, including Deputy Chair Committee of
the Whole from 1996-1998, Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Agriculture
and Fisheries from 1998-2000, and Deputy Speaker from 1998-2000. Upon the
resignation of former Speaker Gretchen Mann Brewin in February 2000, Mr.
Hartley assumed responsibility as Acting Speaker until being elected to the
post one month later.
Mr. Hartley has participated in
a number of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association events, including the
international conferences in the Bahamas (1992) and New Zealand (1998). He has
also attended Canadian Regional Conferences in Toronto (1998) and Quebec City
(1999) as well as the Canadian Regional Seminar in Fredericton (1996).
New Speaker in Prince Edward
Island
The new Speaker of the PEI
Legislative Assembly, Mildred (Rodgerson) Dover, was born and raised in
Fanning Brook, Prince Edward Island. She received her early education in the
one room school in Fanning Brook and went on to further her education at Prince
of Wales College in Charlottetown, PEI, graduating with Honours Standing in
June 1958.
Her teaching career began in
1958 at Marshfield School, Marshfield, PEI, where she taught all subjects from
Grades 1 to 10, and served as Principal from 1961-62. From there, she held
various teaching positions at West Royalty School, Queen Charlotte Junior High
School, Charlottetown Rural High School, and Holland College. In June 1993, Ms.
Dover retired from teaching after 35 years with Unit 3 area schools.
Ms. Dover served on the Board of
Governors of the PEI Teachers Federation and as a member of the PEI Department
of Education Senior High English Committee. During her years at Charlottetown
Rural High School, she served as department head for English teachers and staff
advisor to student council and other various school committees, as well as
organizing and supervising student exchange trips.
In 1993, Ms. Dover entered
provincial politics. She ran again as a candidate in the November 1996
Provincial Election and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly and
appointed Minister of Health and Social Services. Ms. Dover was elected Speaker
of the House on May 11, 2000.
Meeting of the Canadian
Regional Council of CPA
The Executive of the Canadian
Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held its annual meeting in
Ottawa on Saturday June 3, 2000. The meeting was chaired by Speaker Mildred
Dover of Prince Edward Island and Speakers from most provincial and
territorial legislatures were in attendance. Also participating was the federal
regional representative Bob Speller, MP and the Chair of the federal
Branch Sarmite Bulte, MP and Gilbert Parent, Speaker of the House
of Commons.
Aside from adopting the budget
for 2000-2001, the Council considered arrangements for the 2004 Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference to be held in Canada. It was agreed that the
conference, which attracts more than 600 delegates from around the world would
be held in Ottawa, Quebec City and Toronto in September 2004.
The Council also approved a
number of revisions to the Rules governing the Canadian Region many of which
clarified practices and procedures that had developed over the years but had
never been formally adopted by the Council. A number of future activities were
also finalized including Regional Conferences in Prince Edward Island (2000),
Alberta (2001) and New Brunswick (2002), Regional Seminars in Nova Scotia
(2000), Saskatchewan (2001) and Quebec (2002); Presiding Officers Conferences
in New Brunswick (2001) and Newfoundland (2002).
Ms. Bulte was elected as
regional representative to CPA and replaces Mr. Speller whose three-year term
has expired.