Reeves Matheson (born 1952) is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Cape Breton East in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1998 to 1999. He was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party.[1]
Reeves Matheson | |
|---|---|
| MLA for Cape Breton East | |
| In office March 24, 1998 – July 27, 1999 | |
| Preceded by | John MacEachern |
| Succeeded by | David Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 (age 71–72) Glace Bay, Nova Scotia |
| Political party | New Democratic Party (1998) Independent (1998–1999) |
| Occupation | lawyer |
Early life and education
editBorn in 1952 at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Matheson was educated at Saint Mary's University, and Dalhousie Law School, where he graduated in 1976.[2]
He practiced law in Glace Bay, and served for ten years as town solicitor.[2]
Political career
editMatheson first attempted to enter provincial politics in a 1980 byelection for the Cape Breton East riding, where he placed second, losing to Progressive Conservative Donnie MacLeod by 1500 votes.[3][4] In the 1998 election, Matheson defeated his closest opponent by over 2100 votes to win the seat.[5] On April 2, 1998, Matheson was suspended by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society for three months pending the outcome of an investigation into a complaint lodged by one of his clients.[6] On May 13, Matheson quit the NDP caucus to sit as an Independent.[7] On June 1, Matheson was disbarred after admitting he took thousands of dollars from trust accounts.[8][9] On December 16, Matheson was charged with four counts of theft, four of fraud, 3 counts of uttering a forged document and one count of breach of trust.[2][10][11] Matheson did not reoffer in the 1999 election.[12][13] In November 2000, Matheson pleaded guilty to five charges,[14][15] and in April 2001 was given a conditional sentence of two years house arrest, and ordered to reimburse the Nova Scotia Barristers Society $117,000 for the money it gave back to the victims.[16][17]
References
edit- ^ "Electoral History for Glace Bay" (PDF). Nova Scotia Legislative Library. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
- ^ a b c Slayton, Philip (2008). Lawyers Gone Bad: Money Sex And Madness In Canada's Legal Profession. Penguin Canada. ISBN 9780143179658.
- ^ "Return of By-election for the House of Assembly 1980" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. 1980. p. 16. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "PC steals NDP seat in N.S. by-election". The Globe and Mail. December 3, 1980.
- ^ "March 24, 1998 Nova Scotia Provincial General Election (Cape Breton East)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. 1998. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Barristers society suspends MLA". The Chronicle Herald. April 3, 1998. Archived from the original on January 23, 2005. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "NDP loses MLA from its ranks: lawyer quits under cloud". The Chronicle Herald. May 14, 1998.
- ^ "New MLA Matheson disbarred". The Chronicle Herald. June 2, 1998.
- ^ "MLA ordered to pay damages". The Globe and Mail. June 2, 1998.
- ^ "MLA charged with theft, fraud". The Globe and Mail. December 17, 1998.
- ^ "Matheson faces a dozen charges: MLA allegedly stole from estate of dead woman, six people". The Chronicle Herald. December 17, 1998.
- ^ "Matheson won't run again". CBC News. June 23, 1999. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Jobs, Matheson hot topics in C.B. East race". The Chronicle Herald. July 10, 1999. Archived from the original on January 24, 2005. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Matheson pleads guilty to 5 charges: ex-MLA stole over $100,000 from law clients". The Chronicle Herald. November 8, 2000.
- ^ "Former member of NS legislature pleads guilty to charges including theft". Cape Breton Post. November 8, 2000.
- ^ "Reeves Matheson gets house arrest". CBC News. April 11, 2001. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Matheson avoids jail: ex-MLA handed conditional sentence, restitution ordered". The Chronicle Herald. April 12, 2001.