Sandy Cameron

Cameron entered provincial politics in 1973, winning a byelection in the Guysborough riding.^[5][6] In August 1973, Cameron was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Fisheries.^[7] He was re-elected in the 1974 election,^[8] and continued to serve in the fisheries portfolio. In February 1976, he was given an additional role in cabinet as Minister of Lands and Forests.^[2] In October 1976, Gerald Regan shuffled his cabinet, moving Cameron to Minister of Development.^[9] Cameron was re-elected by 13 votes in the 1978 election,^[10] but moved to the opposition benches as Regan's Liberal government was defeated.^[11]

On April 3, 1980, Cameron announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.^[12] At the leadership convention on June 8, Cameron defeated MLA Vince MacLean on the third ballot to win the leadership.^[3][13] In the 1981 election, the Liberals were reduced to 13 seats as John Buchanan's Tories were re-elected with a bigger majority.^[14] However, Cameron was re-elected in his own riding by over 600 votes,^[15] and continued to serve as party leader.^[16] He led the Liberals into the 1984 election, but the party was reduced to 6 seats, while their popular vote dropped to 31 per cent.^[17] Cameron was also defeated in his own riding, losing to Progressive Conservative Chuck MacNeil by 390 votes.^[18] Cameron announced in December that he would resign as Opposition leader when an interim leader in the legislature was chosen.^[19] He was succeeded by Vince MacLean.^[20]

Cameron died on December 25, 2004, aged 66, in his hometown of Sherbrooke after a brief battle with cancer.^[21][22]

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