Gordon H. Fitzgerald

Gordon H. Fitzgerald
Gordon H. Fitzgerald, MLA
Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
In office 1969–1970
Preceded by	Harvey Veniot
Succeeded by	George M. Mitchell
MLA for Halifax Northwest
In office 1960–1967
Preceded by	Ronald Manning Fielding
Succeeded by	riding abolished
MLA for Halifax Cobequid
In office 1967–1970
Preceded by	new riding
Succeeded by	George Riley
Personal details
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Occupation	Attorney

Gordon H. (Paddy) Fitzgerald (born January 19, 1927) is a former Nova Scotia politician and former Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

A lawyer by profession,^[1] Fitzgerald was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 1960 provincial election representing Halifax Northwest for the Progressive Conservative and was re-elected in 1963. In 1967 he was elected in the new riding of Halifax Cobequid. In 1969, he was appointed Speaker and served until the 1970 provincial election in which the Conservative government was defeated and Fitzgerald lost his seat.

Following his defeat, Fitzgerald returned to his legal practice and was one of the province's top trial lawyers in the 1970s.^[2] In 1978, he was convicted for falsifying tax return forms,^[3] and was disbarred by the Nova Scotia Bar Association for fraud.^[4] In 1980, he was convicted of raping a female client in his office and sentenced to five years imprisonment. He was paroled in 1981 after serving ten months of his sentence^[5] and was pardoned in 1992.^[3]

In 1982, Fitzgerald was awarded a five month $15,000 contract by the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission to study proposed changes to the Liquor Control Act. The appointment was met with outrage by the Opposition in the House of Assembly and Fitzgerald resigned the appointment.^[4]

Fitzgerald attempted a political comeback in the 1993 provincial election and contested the Progressive Conservative nomination in Dartmouth South to run against Liberal leader John Savage. Fitzgerald won the nomination by a margin of 29 votes to 25 for Dartmouth city councillor Colin May^[1] but Conservative Premier Donald Cameron refused to sign Fitzgerald's nomination papers because Fitzgerald was a convicted rapist. May was awarded the nomination instead.^[1][6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Ex-con denied Tory label", Canadian Press, April 30, 1993
2. ^ "Fitzgerald Pardoned", Financial Post, September 22, 1992
3. ^ ^{a b} "Ex-politician wins rape charge pardon", Toronto Star, September 22, 1992
4. ^ ^{a b} "Family hardship cited, ousted lawyer, rapist quits N. S. liquor post", Globe and Mail, March 2, 1982
5. ^ "Government job for ex-MLA rapist upsets opposition", Globe and Mail, February 27, 1982
6. ^ "Odd meets bizarre in campaign zone - The campaign in Nova Scotia has included mechanical pig racing by the NDP, and a Liberal issuing a plea for a Tory challenger", Globe and Mail, May 15, 1993

Persondata
Name	Fitzgerald, Gordon H.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 19, 1927
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death