Name Sheila Fougere Education Dalhousie University | Role Politician | |
Sheila fougere
Sheila Fougere (born 1957) is a Canadian politician. She was the first woman elected to Halifax Regional Council and has served as the Councillor for District 14, Connaught-Quinpool since 1998.
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Background
Born in 1957 Fougere is a native Haligonian, she attended both Dalhousie University and the University of North Texas. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Recreation Administration from Dalhousie and a Certificate in Municipal Governing from Henson College of Public Affairs.
Prior to entering politics, Fougere worked in the 1980s as Manager of Conference Services and concurrently as Manager of Off-campus Housing at Dalhousie. In 1989 she worked as Marketing Coordinator for Where Magazine and then left full-time employment to be a stay at home mother to her two children. Over the next several years, she worked on a variety of part-time and contract projects in her capacity as a meeting and special event planner.
In 1995 she was hired by the Province of Nova Scotia to coordinate the role of several hundred volunteers for the G-7 Summit. That same year she was hired by Oxford School to develop and coordinate special programs for the school's 300 junior high school students - a project she continued for two and a half years. She worked as a Red Cross Certified First Aid and Basic Life Support instructor for four years. Throughout her adult life she has served in a variety of capacities with numerous community, professional and sport organizations.
She is the recipient of the Halifax Cornwallis Progress Club Women of Excellence Award for Management and the Professions and the Dalhousie University Charles Ballem Award for Exemplary Leadership in the Field of Recreation.
Sheila Fougere is married and has two adult children. She is an avid reader, a soccer player and veteran soccer coach. She plays the trumpet and piano. She has travelled extensively on four continents.
Political life
Fougere was first elected as Halifax Regional Councillor for District 14, Connaught-Quinpool, in 1998.
In her years as Councillor she held positions on a variety of committees dealing with issues including: economic development, natural gas distribution, emergency measures, education funding, heritage, solid waste, pensions, and special events.
In 2004 Fougere ran for the Canadian House of Commons as the candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in Halifax, but lost to Alexa McDonough of the New Democratic Party. Fougere received 17,267 votes to McDonough's 18,341.
On November 3, 2007, Fougere announced that she would be running for the office of Mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality in the 2008 election.
She received 41,333 votes, while the incumbent Peter Kelly received 57,938 votes and David Boyd received 1,791 votes. [www.halifax.ca]