Roseanne Skoke

Roseanne Skoke (born September 11, 1954) was the Liberal MP for the riding of Central Nova from 1993 to 1997.

Roseanne Skoke
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Central Nova
In office
October 25, 1993 – June 2, 1997
Preceded byElmer MacKay
Succeeded byRiding dissolved
Personal details
Born (1954-09-11) September 11, 1954
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political partyLiberal

Political career

Central Nova had been considered a safe Progressive Conservative riding, but its popular MP, Elmer MacKay, did not run for reelection in 1993. Skoke was elected in the gigantic Liberal landslide of that year as the party swept Nova Scotia and won all but one seat in the Atlantic provinces.

She was one of the more socially conservative members of the Liberal caucus, drawing great controversy for her remarks on homosexuality in 1995, calling it "unnatural and immoral."[1]

Due to redistribution prior to the 1997 federal election, Skoke was forced to run against fellow Liberal MP Francis LeBlanc for the Liberal nomination in her riding, which was renamed Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough. She was defeated due, in part, to controversies surrounding her.[2][3] She refused to campaign for LeBlanc in the 1997 election leading some Liberals to blame her for LeBlanc's defeat at the hands of Peter MacKay.

Skoke attempted a political comeback by running for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party later that year.[4] She placed third.[5][6]

In 1998, she unsuccessfully attempted to win a seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly by running against John Hamm in Pictou Centre during the provincial election.[7][8]

In the 1980s, she was one of six people charged and convicted for disturbing an act of solemnity during a service of religious worship after she insisted on kneeling for communion at her Catholic church. Those convictions were later overturned in the Supreme Court of Canada.[9]

In October 2015, she began a private lawsuit against the bishop and Diocese of Antigonish after the diocese announced the coming closure of Our Lady of Lourdes church.[10]

References
  1. Kimber, Stephen. "The rightness of Roseanne Skoke," Chatelaine, September 1, 1995
  2. "Anti-gay view sinks Skoke's bid for riding - but she might run as Independent". Southam Newspapers. March 22, 1997. Archived from the original on January 29, 1999. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
  3. "Skoke unlikely to stop causing Liberals grief". The Globe and Mail. March 24, 1997.
  4. Harder, Steve (May 15, 1997). "Skoke wades into race". The Chronicle Herald. Archived from the original on July 12, 2001. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  5. "Skoke declines king-maker role". The Chronicle Herald. July 14, 1997. Archived from the original on February 4, 1998. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  6. "N.S. Grits choose MacLellan to put new face on party". The Globe and Mail. July 14, 1997.
  7. "Skoke to face off against Tory leader". The Chronicle Herald. February 21, 1998. Archived from the original on January 23, 2005. Retrieved 2014-09-09.
  8. "Returns of General Election for the House of Assembly 1998 (Pictou Centre)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. 1998. Retrieved 2014-09-09.
  9. "R v Skoke-Graham". Lexum - Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  10. "Roseanne Skoke fights to keep Our Lady of Lourdes open". CBC News. October 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
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