Reeves Matheson

Born 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]

Matheson 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]