Danielle S. Barkhouse (born September 21, 1976) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2021 Nova Scotia general election.[2] She represents the riding of Chester-St. Margaret's as a member of the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia. Currently, Barkhouse is the Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. She is a member of the Assembly Matters and Veterans Affairs Committees. She is also a member of the House of Assembly Management Commission.[3]
Danielle S. Barkhouse | |
|---|---|
| Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia | |
| Assumed office September 5, 2024 | |
| Premier | Tim Houston |
| Lieutenant Governor | Arthur J. LeBlanc |
| Preceded by | Karla MacFarlane |
| Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Chester-St. Margaret's | |
| Assumed office August 17, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Hugh MacKay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 21, 1976[1] New Brunswick |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Occupation | Politician |
Prior to her election to the legislature, Barkhouse was a municipal councillor in Chester.[4]
Criticism while serving in council
editDuring Barkhouse's time as a councillor, the municipal council faced criticism after denying to raise the LGBTQ pride flag outside of its municipal office during pride month. The Municipality prohibited the raising due to an old policy from 2007 that prohibited what flags could be raised on municipal buildings. The policy allowed only the flags of municipal, provincial, federal and national foreign governments or the United Nations to be flown from municipal poles.[5] The council faced immense backlash about their decision to not raise the flag,[6] the CBC and other news sources reported on it and the council received immense backlash.[7] The backlash attracted the attention of prominent LGBTQ2IA+ actor Elliot Page who in turn told people to call the office to tell them to overturn the rule.[8] Barkhouse did not make a public media comment, however Allen Webber, warden for the Municipality did on behalf of the council. On July 23, one day after the CBC posted the original article that attracted the eyes of many people, the municipality overturned the controversial rule, that day the flag was raised on the side of the municipal offices.[9]
Electoral history
edit| 2021 Nova Scotia general election: Chester-St. Margaret's | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Danielle Barkhouse | 3,788 | 40.06 | +14.40 | $76,695.05 | |||
| Liberal | Jacob Killawee | 3,556 | 37.61 | +2.38 | $67,872.46 | |||
| New Democratic | Amy Reitsma | 1,626 | 17.20 | -17.23 | $50,011.78 | |||
| Green | Jessica Alexander | 417 | 4.41 | -0.27 | $10,917.97 | |||
| Atlantica | Steven Foster | 68 | 0.72 | $200.00 | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 9,455 | 99.62 | -0.17 | $88,319.62 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 36 | 0.38 | +0.17 | |||||
| Turnout | 9,491 | 62.48 | +4.88 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 15,191 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +6.01 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Nova Scotia[10][11] | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Affiliation | Danielle Barkhouse | 623 | 81.65% | ✓ |
| No Affiliation | Kerry Keddy | 140 | 18.35% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Affiliation | Danielle Barkhouse | 326 | 63.18% | ✓ |
| No Affiliation | Brenda Mulrooney | 190 | 36.82% |
Nova Scotian Municipal politics do not have party affiliations.[14]
References
edit- ^ Biographical Directory of MLAs from 1984 to the Present Nova Scotia Legislature
- ^ Evan Taylor, "PCs Claim All Five Local Ridings". CKBW-FM, August 18, 2021.
- ^ "Danielle Barkhouse". Nova Scotia Legislature. September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
- ^ Cheyenne Nelson, "Meet The Candidate: Danielle Barkhouse". CKBW-FM, August 16, 2021.
- ^ Robyn, Simon. "Despite calls for change, Municipality of Chester won't fly Pride flag". CBC News Nova Scotia.
- ^ "Pride Flag". Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ Taylor, Evan. "After Backlash Chester Decides to Raise Pride Flag". CKBW. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ "This is very unfortunate to say the least @chestermun Dear friends in Nova Scotia, perhaps you want to call The Municipality of Chester to let them know how you feel? +1 (902) 275-3554". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ "After coming under fire, Municipality of Chester raises Pride flag". CBC News Nova Scotia. July 23, 2020.
- ^ "Provincial General Election 2021-08-17- Official Results". Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ "41st Provincial General Election". Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ Cole, Darrell. "Chester Warden Allen Webber re-elected | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ "RESULTS: 2016 Municipal and School Board Election". CKBW. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ "Nova Scotian Municipal Government Act" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-02-28.