Gerald Keddy

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

Gerald Gordon Keddy (born February 15, 1953) is a Canadian politician. Keddy is a former Christmas tree grower, and offshore drill operator. He is currently serving as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Canada. His wife, Judy Streatch, is a former Nova Scotia MLA and cabinet minister.

Life and political career

Keddy was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. He is a graduate of Acadia University. He 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 served as the Whip and the Deputy Whip of the Progressive Conservative Party, and as critic of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Natural Resources, Fisheries and Oceans, Public Accounts, Parliamentary Affairs, and Library of Parliament.

As a member of Stephen Harper's caucus, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. On October 10, 2007, Keddy was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. He also served as a school board trustee in New Ross, Nova Scotia.

Same sex marriage

He is one of only a handful of Conservative MPs to support same-sex marriage. His stance on this issue cost him votes in the western portion of his riding in the Canadian federal election, 2006, including some to Christian Heritage Party candidate Jim Hnatiuk who ran specifically to protest Keddy's stance on this issue. However, an evenly split opposition (Liberal and New Democrat rivals came within 60 votes of each other) and rising Green Party also split his opposition's vote.

Lighthouses

Keddy's riding includes many historic lighthouses and is in fact known as the "Lighthouse Route". In 2006, he sponsored in the House of Commons a bill which had emerged from the Senate, the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, until Parliament was prorogued in 2007. Keddy supported the Act when it was re-introduced by MP Larry Miller in 2008, which led to Royal Assent on May 29, 2008.

Government Cheques with Conservative Party ethics probe

In 2009, Keddy used a ceremonial cheque at a funding announcement which contained a large Conservative party logo and was in the blue colour scheme associated with the party. Usually such cheques carry the Government of Canada logo. The use of the partisan cheque was found to be "inappropriate" but not "illegal" by the Ethics Commissioner

November 2009 "no-good bastards" comment

On November 23, 2009, Keddy sparked a controversy when he was discussing the use of immigrant labour in the industry when he remarked that "Nova Scotians won’t do it — all those no-good bastards sitting on the sidewalk in Halifax that can’t get work." Keddy subsequently apologized for the remark the following day , saying that "many of these people are struggling with mental health issues and addictions. They don’t need to be insulted. They need a little bit of assistance,"

External links

• Gerald Keddy - Parliament of Canada biography