Gerald Keddy

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Gerald Gordon Keddy
Member of Parliament for South Shore (1997-2004) South Shore—St. Margaret's (2004-)
Incumbent
Assumed office  1997
Preceded by	Derek Wells
Born	February 15, 1953 (1953-02-15) (age 55) Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Judy Streatch
Residence	Bridgewater
Profession	offshore drill operator

Gerald Gordon Keddy (born February 15, 1953 in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian politician. Keddy is a former Christmas tree grower, and offshore drill operator. His fiancée, Judy Streatch, is a Nova Scotia MLA.

Contents 1 Political career 1.1 Atlantic Accord dispute 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Political career

Keddy is a current member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of South Shore from 1997 to 2004 and South Shore—St. Margaret's since 2004. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party before 2004. He has served as the Whip and the Deputy Whip of the Progressive Conservative Party, and has served as critic of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Natural Resources, Fisheries and Oceans, Public Accounts, Parliamentary Affairs, and Library of Parliament. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, which is of utmost importance to his rural fishing constituency. On October 10, 2007, Gerald was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. He also served as a school board trustee in New Ross, Nova Scotia.

He is one of only a handful of Conservative MPs to support same sex marriage. His stance on this issue cost him a small amount of votes in the western portion of his riding in the 2006 election, however he garnered his highest vote total to date in this election due to his overall popularity amongst constituents. Keddy's riding includes many historic lighthouses and is in fact known as the "Lighthouse Route". In 2006 he became responsible for seeing Bill S-220 An Act to Protect Heritage Lighthouses through the House of Commons. This legislation which originated in the Senate faces its final vote in the fall of 2007.^[1]

[edit] Atlantic Accord dispute

Keddy voted for the Conservative 2007 budget which included changes to the Atlantic Accord. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said without Gerald's hand, the deal may have never been reached. Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald urged MPs from his province to vote against the Conservative 2007 budget bill. He argued that Harper is breaking the 2005 Canada-Nova Scotia accord on natural gas revenues that ensured the province would keep those dollars without a clawback of equalization payments. Keddy's colleague, Bill Casey, was booted from the Conservative caucus in June 2007 for voting against the federal budget implementation bill and accused Harper of breaking a promise to exclude resource revenues from the federal equalization formula.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Parliament of Canada Webpage

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Derek Wells, Liberal	Member of Parliament for South Shore 1997-2004	Succeeded by district abolished
Preceded by district created	Member of Parliament for South Shore—St. Margaret's 2004-present	Succeeded by incumbent