Danielle Barkhouse
MLA
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
for Chester-St. Margaret's
Assumed office
August 17, 2021
Preceded byHugh MacKay
Personal details
Political partyProgressive Conservative
OccupationPolitician

Danielle Barkhouse is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2021 Nova Scotia general election.[1] She represents the riding of Chester-St. Margaret's as a member of the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia. Currently, Barkhouse is the Vice Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Vice President of the Women’s Parliamentary Commonwealth and Deputy Speaker. She is a member of the Community Services and Health Committees. She is also a member of the House of Assembly Management Commission.[2]

Prior to her election to the legislature, Barkhouse was a municipal councillor in Chester.[3]

Criticism while serving in council

During Barkhouse's time as a councillor, the municipal council faced criticism after denying to raise the LGBTQ pride flag outside of its municipal office during pride month. The Municipality prohibited the raising due to an old policy from 2007 that prohibited what flags could be raised on municipal buildings. The policy allowed only the flags of municipal, provincial, federal and national foreign governments or the United Nations to be flown from municipal poles.[4] The council faced immense backlash about their decision to not raise the flag,[5] the CBC and other news sources reported on it and the council received immense backlash.[6] The backlash attracted the attention of prominent LGBTQ2IA+ actor Elliot Page who in turn told people to call the office to tell them to overturn the rule.[7] Barkhouse did not make a public media comment, however Allen Webber, warden for the Municipality did on behalf of the council. On July 23, one day after the CBC posted the original article that attracted the eyes of many people, the municipality overturned the controversial rule, that day the flag was raised on the side of the municipal offices.[8]

Electoral history

2021 Nova Scotia general election: Chester-St. Margaret's
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeDanielle Barkhouse3,78840.06+14.40
LiberalJacob Killawee3,55637.61+2.38
New DemocraticAmy Reitsma1,62617.20-17.23
GreenJessica Alexander4174.41-0.27
AtlanticaSteven Foster680.72
Total valid votes 9,45599.62
Total rejected ballots 360.38
Turnout 9,49162.48
Eligible voters 15,191
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +6.01
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[9]
2020 Chester Municipal Election District 3[10]
Party Candidate Votes Percent
No Affiliation Danielle Barkhouse 623 81.65% ✓
No Affiliation Kerry Keddy 140 18.35%
2016 Chester Municipal Election District 3[11]
Party Candidate Votes Percent
No Affiliation Danielle Barkhouse 326 63.18% ✓
No Affiliation Brenda Mulrooney 190 36.82%

Nova Scotian Municipal politics do not have party affiliations.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Evan Taylor, "PCs Claim All Five Local Ridings". CKBW-FM, August 18, 2021.
  2. ↑ david (August 19, 2021). "Danielle Barkhouse". Nova Scotia Legislature. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  3. ↑ Cheyenne Nelson, "Meet The Candidate: Danielle Barkhouse". CKBW-FM, August 16, 2021.
  4. ↑ Robyn, Simon. "Despite calls for change, Municipality of Chester won't fly Pride flag". CBC News Nova Scotia.
  5. ↑ "Pride Flag". Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Evan. "After Backlash Chester Decides to Raise Pride Flag". CKBW. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  7. ↑ "This is very unfortunate to say the least @chestermun Dear friends in Nova Scotia, perhaps you want to call The Municipality of Chester to let them know how you feel? +1 (902) 275-3554". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  8. ↑ "After coming under fire, Municipality of Chester raises Pride flag". CBC News Nova Scotia. July 23, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Provincial General Election 2021-08-17- Official Results". Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  10. ↑ Cole, Darrell. "Chester Warden Allen Webber re-elected | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  11. ↑ "RESULTS: 2016 Municipal and School Board Election". CKBW. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  12. ↑ "Nova Scotian Municipal Government Act" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-02-28.
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