Cecil Clarke

Cecil Phillip Clarke (born April 12, 1968) is a politician in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. He represented the riding of Cape Breton North in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, from 2001 to 2011. He served as a Progressive Conservative.

Before politics

Born in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Clarke graduated with a Bachelors Degree from Mount Allison University in 1990.^{[citation needed]}

Entrance to politics

Clarke was first elected in a March 2001 byelection^[2] and was re-elected in the 2003, 2006 and 2009 general elections. He served in the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Economic Development, Minister of Energy, Attorney General and Minister of Justice.^{[citation needed]} Clarke was Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia from June 2006 to October 2007. Along with his various cabinet duties, Clarke was also the minister responsible for the Human Rights Act, the Regulations Act, and Part II of the Workers' Compensation Act.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2010, Clarke announced that he was seeking the federal Conservative nomination for the riding of Sydney—Victoria.^[3] On March 25, 2011, Clarke resigned his seat in the Nova Scotia legislature so he could run for the Conservatives in the 2011 federal election.^[4][5] On May 2, 2011, Clark was defeated in his bid for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada by Liberal incumbent Mark Eyking.^[6]

On September 6, 2012, Clarke announced that he was entering the race for mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in the 2012 Nova Scotia municipal elections.^[7] On October 20, 2012, Clarke was elected mayor.^[8]

References