Reeves Matheson

Reeves Matheson (born 1952) is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Cape Breton East in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 1999. He was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party.[1]

Reeves Matheson
MLA for Cape Breton East
In office
March 24, 1998 – July 27, 1999
Preceded byJohn MacEachern
Succeeded byDavid Wilson
Personal details
Born1952 (age 68–69)
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Political partyNew Democratic Party (1998)
Independent (1998–1999)
Occupationlawyer

Early life and education

Born in 1952 at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Matheson was educated at Saint Mary's University, and Dalhousie Law School, where he graduated in 1976.[2]

He practiced law in Glace Bay, and served for ten years as town solicitor.[2]

Political career

Matheson first attempted to enter provincial politics in a 1980 byelection for the Cape Breton East riding, where he placed second, losing to Progressive Conservative Donnie MacLeod by 1500 votes.[3][4] In the 1998 election, Matheson defeated his closest opponent by over 2100 votes to win the seat.[5] On April 2, 1998, Matheson was suspended by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society for three months pending the outcome of an investigation into a complaint lodged by one of his clients.[6] On May 13, Matheson quit the NDP caucus to sit as an Independent.[7] On June 1, Matheson was disbarred after admitting he took thousands of dollars from trust accounts.[8][9] On December 16, Matheson was charged with four counts of theft, four of fraud, 3 counts of uttering a forged document and one count of breach of trust.[2][10][11] Matheson did not reoffer in the 1999 election.[12][13] In November 2000, Matheson pleaded guilty to five charges,[14][15] and in April 2001 was given a conditional sentence of two years house arrest, and ordered to reimburse the Nova Scotia Barristers Society $117,000 for the money it gave back to the victims.[16][17]

References
  1. "Electoral History for Glace Bay" (PDF). Nova Scotia Legislative Library. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  2. Slayton, Philip (2008). Lawyers Gone Bad: Money Sex And Madness In Canada's Legal Profession. Penguin Canada. ISBN 9780143179658.
  3. "Return of By-election for the House of Assembly 1980" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. 1980. p. 16. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  4. "PC steals NDP seat in N.S. by-election". The Globe and Mail. December 3, 1980.
  5. "March 24, 1998 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election (Cape Breton East)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. 1998. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  6. "Barristers society suspends MLA". The Chronicle Herald. April 3, 1998. Archived from the original on January 23, 2005. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  7. "NDP loses MLA from its ranks: lawyer quits under cloud". The Chronicle Herald. May 14, 1998.
  8. "New MLA Matheson disbarred". The Chronicle Herald. June 2, 1998.
  9. "MLA ordered to pay damages". The Globe and Mail. June 2, 1998.
  10. "MLA charged with theft, fraud". The Globe and Mail. December 17, 1998.
  11. "Matheson faces a dozen charges: MLA allegedly stole from estate of dead woman, six people". The Chronicle Herald. December 17, 1998.
  12. "Matheson won't run again". CBC News. June 23, 1999. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  13. "Jobs, Matheson hot topics in C.B. East race". The Chronicle Herald. July 10, 1999. Archived from the original on January 24, 2005. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  14. "Matheson pleads guilty to 5 charges: ex-MLA stole over $100,000 from law clients". The Chronicle Herald. November 8, 2000.
  15. "Former member of NS legislature pleads guilty to charges including theft". Cape Breton Post. November 8, 2000.
  16. "Reeves Matheson gets house arrest". CBC News. April 11, 2001. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  17. "Matheson avoids jail: ex-MLA handed conditional sentence, restitution ordered". The Chronicle Herald. April 12, 2001.
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