Pictou County mourns the death of former Premier

Pictou County is mourning the loss of an influential leader. Former Pictou East MLA and Nova Scotia Premier Donald Cameron died May 2. He was 74.

“I am heartbroken by the death of Donald Cameron,” Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said in a statement Monday.

“He loved Nova Scotia and during his time in public and private life, Donnie was a man of incredible integrity.”

Houston now represents Cameron’s former riding of Pictou East.

“He was a mentor to me in many ways,” Houston said. “But more than that, he was a treasured friend.”

Cameron was born in the small Pictou County community of Egerton on May 20, 1946, and graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a science degree.

He entered into politics in the 1974 provincial election, winning the Pictou East seat by 272 votes. Cameron was re-elected in 1978 by almost 2,000 votes and was named fisheries minister in the John Buchanan-led government.

He was re-elected in 1981, 1984 and 1988.

After the 1988 election, Cameron was appointed minister of industry and trade.

When Buchanan resigned as premier in 1990, Cameron announced his candidacy as leader of the party and went on to defeat Rollie Thornhill in the leadership vote.

Cameron was sworn in as premier on Feb. 26, 1991.

Former Central Nova MP Elmer MacKay’s served in federal politics for a period that overlapped with Cameron’s career in provincial politics.

“He was a good friend and he was a hard worker,” MacKay said. “I would describe him as living an exemplary life.”

Cameron’s style wasn’t flamboyant, but instead focused on getting things done, MacKay said.

“He was very determined to do things that were of value for the province.”

Cameron's administration was known for a smaller cabinet, supporting antidiscrimination measures, and amending the Human Rights Act to extend protection to gays and lesbians.

“On the first day he sat in the legislature as premier, his government introduced human rights legislation, which included equal rights for gays and lesbians, making Nova Scotia one of the first places in North America to do so,” Houston said.

Cameron is also remembered as an aggressive supporter of the Westray mine project in Plymouth, Pictou County. He was instrumental, first as a local MLA, then as industry minister in the Buchanan government, and then as premier, in the development of the mine.

The efforts were pursued with the best intentions, but ultimately led to tragedy with the explosion of the Westray Mine on May 9, 1992 that killed 26 miners, said Elmer MacKay.

“Any people who were involved had to be affected by it. It was such a tragedy.” MacKay said. “Donnie felt that keenly I’m sure.”

Cameron’s government privatized Nova Scotia Power Inc., the largest privatization in Canada at the time, and he championed the practices of non-political appointment of judges and the deregulation of gasoline prices.

In the 1993 provincial election, Cameron was re-elected, but the PC government was defeated by the Liberal party under John Savage. Cameron announced his resignation as party leader and MLA on election night.

Peter MacKay, who would go on to serve in his father’s former riding in Central Nova, was a young man helping on Cameron’s campaign that night.

“I remember feeling that loss and disappointment,” MacKay said.

While Cameron’s political career ended, MacKay said his influence lived on.

“The way he conducted himself set a high bar,” he said. “It to me demonstrated that you could effect change if you were strong in your beliefs and communicated it in a way that brought people with you. That was a lesson that I took away from his life and his career.”

MacKay said he also admired the focus that Cameron put on his family life, particularly once he returned to private life. He and his wife Rosemary, who passed away in January, were rarely apart.

“His relationship with his wife Rosemary, it was truly one of these fairy tale love stories,” MacKay said.

Pictou Centre MLA Pat Dunn remembers Cameron’s long tenure in politics as well as many personal conversations they had over the years about issues affecting Pictou County.

He will remember him for his passion for the province and for advice freely given, but also for his willingness to go against the flow.

“If there’s one word to describe him it’s ‘decisiveness,’” Dunn said. “He wasn’t afraid to make a decision that would go against the norm, and knowing that there would be a certain per cent of the population that wasn’t going to like it.”

Cameron's life in and out of politics leave a high bar to meet, MacKay said.

“There is abiding respect that people have for Donald Cameron. They saw him as someone who was very true to his roots, never forgot where he came from, was humble. Somebody who deeply cared about his community and about others."