Roseanne Skoke Explained

Roseanne Skoke
Birth Date:	11 September 1954
Birth Place:	New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Parliament:	Canadian
Riding:	Central Nova
Term Start:	October 25, 1993
Term End:	June 2, 1997
Predecessor:	Elmer MacKay
Successor:	Riding dissolved
Party:	Liberal

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

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]}

Legal cases

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]

Notes and References

1. Kimber, Stephen. "The rightness of Roseanne Skoke," Chatelaine, September 1, 1995 http://gay.hfxns.org/RoseanneSkoke
2. Web site: Anti-gay view sinks Skoke's bid for riding - but she might run as Independent. Southam Newspapers. March 22, 1997. 2014-09-11. https://web.archive.org/web/19990129062536/http://votes.canada.com/fed97/970322_candid.html. January 29, 1999.
3. News: Skoke unlikely to stop causing Liberals grief. The Globe and Mail. March 24, 1997.
4. Web site: Steve. Harder. Skoke wades into race. The Chronicle Herald. May 15, 1997. 2014-09-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20010712162602/http://www.herald.ns.ca/specialevents/libleader/stories/970515102.html. July 12, 2001.
5. Web site: Skoke declines king-maker role. The Chronicle Herald. July 14, 1997. 2014-09-21. https://web.archive.org/web/19980204072332/http://www.herald.ns.ca/specialevents/libleader/stories/970714148.html. February 4, 1998.
6. News: N.S. Grits choose MacLellan to put new face on party. The Globe and Mail. July 14, 1997.
7. Web site: Skoke to face off against Tory leader. The Chronicle Herald. February 21, 1998. 2014-09-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20050123230554/http://www.herald.ns.ca/cgi-bin/home/displaypackstory?1998%2F02%2F21+302.raw+PE98Feb21+2. January 23, 2005. dead.
8. Web site: Returns of General Election for the House of Assembly 1998 (Pictou Centre). Elections Nova Scotia. 1998. 2014-09-09.
9. Web site: R v Skoke-Graham. Lexum - Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada. 2015-10-28.
10. Web site: Roseanne Skoke fights to keep Our Lady of Lourdes open. CBC News. October 28, 2015. 2015-10-28.