Gail Shea

Gail A. Shea PC (born April 6, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Egmont from 2008 to 2015. She was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 2000 to 2007, representing the electoral district of Tignish-DeBlois as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

The Honourable Gail A. Shea PC
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
In office July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Keith Ashfield
Succeeded by	Hunter Tootoo
In office October 30, 2008 – May 18, 2011
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Loyola Hearn
Succeeded by	Keith Ashfield
Minister of National Revenue
In office May 18, 2011 – July 15, 2013
Preceded by	Keith Ashfield
Succeeded by	Kerry-Lynne Findlay
Member of Parliament for Egmont
In office October 14, 2008 – August 4, 2015
Preceded by	Joe McGuire
Succeeded by	Bobby Morrissey
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island for Tignish-DeBlois
In office April 17, 2000 – May 28, 2007
Preceded by	Bobby Morrissey
Succeeded by	Neil LeClair
Personal details
Born	(1959-04-06) April 6, 1959 (age 66) Tignish, Prince Edward Island
Political party	Conservative

Shea served as the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in the federal cabinet.

Provincial politics

Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs

Shea served as Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs from 2000 to 2003, under the second administration of Premier Pat Binns. During this period Shea's responsibilities included the Status of Women in the province, as well as providing oversight on the Workers Compensation Board and the Island Waste Management Corporation.^[1]

Minister of Transportation and Public Works

From 2003 to 2007 Shea served as Minister of Transportation and Public Works. In this position, Shea oversaw the implementation of a graduated licensing system in her home province.^[2]

Federal politics

Shea stood as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the riding of Egmont for the 2008 federal election.^[3] On October 14, 2008, she became the first non-Liberal MP from Prince Edward Island in 24 years.^[4] On October 30, 2008, Shea was appointed the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.^[5] She is only the third female MP from Prince Edward Island, following Margaret Mary Macdonald and Catherine Callbeck.

In the 2011 federal election, Shea was re-elected by a margin of 4500 votes.^[6] On May 18, 2011, she was appointed Minister of National Revenue.^[7][8] In July 2013, Shea was moved back into the fisheries position.^[9] In the 2015 election, Shea was defeated by Liberal Bobby Morrissey.^[10][11]

Pie incident

On January 25, 2010, Shea was pied while giving a speech at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters. An American PETA activist, Emily McCoy, was arrested in Burlington in connection with the incident, and charged with assault. PETA has taken public responsibility for the incident, saying that it was part of a broader campaign against the Canadian Government's support of the seal hunt.^[12][13]

When commenting on the event later, Shea remarked, "I can tell you that this incident actually strengthens my resolve to support the seal hunt. If this is what it takes to stand up for Canadian sealing families and this industry I'm certainly very proud to do it."^[14]

Electoral record

Federal

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election: Egmont
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Bobby Morrissey	10,521	49.25	+17.94	$67,240.83
	Conservative	Gail Shea	6,185	28.95	–25.70	$110,058.32
	New Democratic	Herb Dickieson	4,097	19.18	+6.81	$34,718.49
	Green	Nils Ling	559	2.62	+0.95	$4,895.27
Total valid votes/expense limit			21,362	99.59		$169,928.60
Total rejected ballots			87	0.41	–0.39
Turnout			21,449	77.29	+5.62
Eligible voters			27,751
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+21.82
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

v t e 2011 Canadian federal election: Egmont
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gail Shea	10,467	54.65	+10.72	$57,565.04
	Liberal	Guy Gallant	5,997	31.31	-12.32	$34,428.58
	New Democratic	Jacquie Robichaud	2,369	12.37	+3.32	$1,780.97
	Green	Carl Anthony	320	1.67	-1.72	$250.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			19,153	100.0		$69,831.16
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			155	0.80	+0.18
Turnout			19,308	71.67	+3.52
Eligible voters			26,941
	Conservative hold		Swing		+11.52
Sources:[17][18]

v t e 2008 Canadian federal election: Egmont
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gail Shea	8,110	43.93	+12.97	$51,795.67
	Liberal	Keith Milligan	8,055	43.63	-9.54	$45,007.86
	New Democratic	Orville Lewis	1,670	9.05	-0.50	$2,245.18
	Green	Rebecca Ridlington	626	3.39	-1.80	$2,678.98
Total valid votes/expense limit			18,461	100.0		$67,686
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			115	0.62	+0.01
Turnout			18,576	68.15	-3.57
Eligible voters			27,256
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+11.26

Provincial

v t e 2007 Prince Edward Island general election: Tignish-Palmer Road
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Neil LeClair	1,569	55.15	+11.18
	Progressive Conservative	Gail Shea	1,276	44.85	−10.44
Total valid votes			2,845	100.0
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+10.81

2003 Prince Edward Island general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gail A. Shea	1,480	55.29	-0.64
	Liberal	Neil J. LeClair	1,177	43.97	+3.39
	New Democratic	Reg T. Pendergast	20	0.75	-2.75
Total valid votes			2,677	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-2.02

2000 Prince Edward Island general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gail A. Shea	1,472	55.93	+12.04
	Liberal	Neil J. LeClair	1,068	40.58	-13.39
	New Democratic	Reg T. Pendergast	92	3.50	+1.36
Total valid votes			2,632	100.0
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+12.72

1996 Prince Edward Island general election: Tignish-DeBlois
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Robert Joseph Morrissey	1,413	53.97
	Progressive Conservative	Gail A. Shea	1,149	43.89
	New Democratic	Howard Waite	56	2.14
Total valid votes			2,618	100.0
This riding was created from parts of the dual-member riding of 1st Prince.