Jamie Muir (politician)

Jamie Muir (born February 2, 1941 in Truro, Nova Scotia) is an educator and politician. He was the MLA for Truro-Bible Hill in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 2009, and served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in the Executive Council of Nova Scotia.

Background

Muir is a graduate of Dalhousie University, and received a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education before completing his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in education at the University of Virginia.

In 1964, he married Mary Jean Cox. They have four children.

Employment history

Muir taught as a Frontier College instructor and a high school teacher in Truro before serving as Director of Inspection Services in the Nova Scotia Department of Education. He also served as inspector of schools in Cumberland, Colchester and Hants counties.

He has taught at the post-secondary level, lecturing at University of Prince Edward Island, serving as assistant professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, senior research associate at the Atlantic Institute of Education, principal of the Nova Scotia Teachers College and as a faculty member in education department at St. Francis Xavier University.

Political career

Muir was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 1998 election for the Progressive Conservatives in the riding of Truro-Bible Hill in the central Colchester region of Nova Scotia.

He was re-elected in the 1999, 2003 and 2006 elections. Cabinet duties have included Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Health, Minister of Education and Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. He has been the Minister responsible for the Human Rights Act, the Regulations Act, Part II of the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Youth Secretariat Act, the Emergency Measures Act and the Residential Tenancies Act. Muir was also Chair of Treasury and Policy Board, and served on and off as acting Finance Minister for two years due to Michael Baker's illness.

Muir announced on December 29, 2008, that he would not reoffer in the 2009 election,^[1] and was shuffled out of cabinet on January 7, 2009.^[2] He returned to cabinet on March 10, 2009, taking over as Minister of Finance and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, following the death of Michael Baker.^[3]

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