| Yvonne Jones MHA |
|
|---|---|
| Leader of the Opposition in Newfoundland & Labrador | |
| In office November 13, 2007 – January 3, 2012 |
|
| Preceded by | Gerry Reid |
| Succeeded by | Dwight Ball |
| Leader of the Newfoundland & Labrador Liberal Party | |
| In office Interim: November 13, 2007 – May 28, 2011 May 28, 2011 – August 14, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Gerry Reid |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Aylward |
| MHA for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1996 |
|
| Preceded by | New District |
| Mayor of Mary's Harbour, NL | |
| In office 1991–1996 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary's Harbour |
| Political party | Liberal (1999-present) |
| Other political affiliations |
Independent (1996-1999) |
| Alma mater | West Viking College |
| Occupation | Journalist, Researcher, Politician |
| Cabinet | Minister Responsible for the Status of Women (2003)
Minister of Fisheries & Aquaculture (2003) |
| Website | Official website |
Yvonne Jones is a Canadian politician and former leader of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador. She currently represents the riding of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly, and was one of only three Liberal incumbents re-elected in the province's 2007 provincial election.[1] Jones was the sole candidate to run for the permanent leadership of the Liberal party in its Spring 2011 leadership convention. On August 9, 2011, she announced her resignation as leader of the Liberal Party, due to health reasons.[2] She was successfully re-elected in her district during the 2011 provincial election.[3]
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She served as Mayor of Mary's Harbour, Labrador from 1991 to 1996. In 1996, she was elected to the House of Assembly in the 1996 general election as an independent candidate, defeating two-term Liberal MHA Danny Dumaresque, after losing the Liberal nomination for the riding to Dumaresque. She later joined the Liberal caucus in the legislature and was re-elected in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011.
In July 2010, it was announced that she would be a guest speaker at the Canadian women’s program of the 48th Canadian Regional Conference of Commonwealth Parliamentarians. Taking place in Regina, Saskatchewan from July 11–17, 2010.[4]
On November 15, 2007, she was officially named the interim leader of the Liberal Party after party leader Gerry Reid was defeated in his riding on election night. She is the first woman to lead the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.[5] The Liberal Party originally planned to hold a leadership convention to select a new, permanent leader in 2008, but has postponed the vote twice. Jones has continued to serve as interim leader during this period of time, and in December 2009, announced her intention to run for the permanent leadership when the convention was to be scheduled.[6]
In April 2009, she attracted attention when during question period in the House of Assembly she referred to the Progressive Conservative backbenchers as "Yahoos". As she was questioning Innovation, Trade and Rural Development Minister Shawn Skinner over protection for former AbitibiBowater workers. Speaker of the House Roger Fitzgerald called Jones out on the remark and at the end of question period, she apologized.[7]
In June 2010, she criticized Roger Fitzgerald, the Speaker of the House of Assembly for being very unbalanced in a lot of his rulings. She also accused him of constantly singling her out, and constantly naming her in the House of Assembly. She eventually submitted an apology to the House of Assembly, and noted that she is often drowned out by heckling Progressive Conservatives.[8]
On October 27, 2009, the district of The Straits - White Bay North held a by-election, to replace Minister of Transportation and Works, Trevor Taylor, who resigned on October 2, 2009. Liberal candidate Marshall Dean won the election taking nearly 48% of the vote and beating the Progressive Conservative candidate by 126 votes.[9]
Under Jones' leadership the Liberal Party remained in second place in public opinion polls. After receiving 22% in the 2007 general election, the party's support has not risen above those levels. For the majority of time since the election their support has been in the mid-teens according to polls conducted by Corporate Research Associates (CRA).[10] Jones' own popularity had consistently remained lower than her own party's; CRA's quarterly polls on Newfoundland and Labrador politics have found that no more than 11% of those surveyed have felt Jones would make the best premier.[11] A NTV Telelink poll conducted in February 2011, found that 13% of decided voters would support the Liberal Party and that 12% thought Jones was the best choice to be premier.[12]
The results of the NTV Telelink poll led former Liberal provincial and federal cabinet minister John Efford to criticize Jones's leadership. Efford said that Jones would not become premier and while he did not call on her to resign as leader, he did say that "it's clear what she ought to do in the face of poor polling results".[13]
A CRA poll in March 2011, saw Jones' personal popularity rise to 18%, her highest level since becoming Liberal leader in 2007. Her personal popularity was also tied with that of her party.[14][15] On June 7, 2011, CRA released a poll showing that Jones' popularity had dropped slightly to 16% but her party's support had risen to 22%. While the Progressive Conservatives still held a large lead in the poll, at 57%, the Liberals were statistically tied with the New Democrats, who had the support of 20% of those surveyed.[16]
The Liberal Party leadership election was held in May 2011.[17] Jones had previously announced her plans to run for the permanent Liberal leadership in December 2009. She later elaborated that she would focus her leadership on rebuilding the party and drawing attention to the "plight" of poorer, rural areas of the province.[18] On July 9, 2010, she officially submitted nomination papers to appear as a candidate on the ballot.[19] However, on July 30, 2010, nominations closed with Jones as the only candidate for the party's leadership, and on July 30, she was unofficially acclaimed leader.[20][21]
Jones announced on August 9, 2011, that she was resigning as Liberal leader upon her successor being named. Jones stated that her white blood cell count had not recovered after her breast cancer treatment and that her immune system was too weak to fight an election as leader. Despite, this she still successfully ran for re-election in her own district.[22]
Jones resides in Mary's Harbour.
On August 13, 2010, Jones announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in July. She had surgery on August 16. While she was receiving treatment, Kelvin Parsons served as interim leader. Jones returned to work full time when the House of Assembly opened for the spring session in March 2011.[23][24]
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