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Shaughnessy Cohen

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Shaughnessy Cohen
Member of Parliament
for Windsor—St. Clair
In office
October 25, 1993 – December 9, 1998
Preceded byHoward McCurdy
Succeeded byRick Limoges
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Shaughnessy Murray

(1948-02-11)February 11, 1948
London, Ontario
DiedDecember 9, 1998(1998-12-09) (aged 50)
Ottawa, Ontario
Political partyLiberal
SpouseJerry Cohen
Residence(s)Amherstburg, Ontario
ProfessionLawyer

Elizabeth Shaughnessy Cohen, née Murray (February 11, 1948 – December 9, 1998) was a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Windsor—St. Clair for the Liberal Party of Canada from 1993 until her death in 1998.[1]

Background

She was born in London, Ontario, and grew up in Thamesville.[2] She studied English literature and sociology at the University of Windsor,[2] and taught at St. Clair College before returning to law school.[2] She married Jerry Cohen, a psychology professor, in 1971.[2] She had originally intended to keep her own surname, but opted to take her husband's name when she realized it would make her both Irish and Jewish.[1]

She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1979,[3] and worked as a lawyer until her election to Parliament.[4]

Political career

Cohen stood as the Liberal candidate in Windsor—St. Clair in the 1988 election, but lost to New Democratic Party incumbent Howard McCurdy.[5] However, in the 1993 election, Cohen defeated McCurdy for the seat.[6] Following the election, she was briefly the subject of controversy when she and her husband were sued for $200,000 in unpaid debt,[7] but Cohen blamed the situation on the costs of conducting a political campaign and the controversy soon subsided after she agreed to a debt consolidation plan.[2]

Her first political action after being sworn in as a Member of Parliament was a letter requesting that the federal government building in Windsor be named after former MP Paul Martin, Sr.,[8] a request which the government accepted.[9] After the first sitting of the new parliament in January 1994, Cohen was the first newly-elected MP to be subjected to a critical profile in Frank, although both Cohen and the Windsor Star criticized the profile's accuracy.[10]

In February 1994, Cohen was appointed to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources and Development.[11] In June, she was one of several Liberal MPs, alongside Jean Augustine, Barry Campbell, Bill Graham and Hedy Fry, who privately intervened with Ontario Liberal Party leader Lyn McLeod to encourage her not to withdraw the party's support of the Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act (Bill 167).[12] In August, she was appointed co-chair with Herb Gray of a parliamentary subcommittee to investigate allegations against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, including the role of Grant Bristow as an informant.[13]

On the final day of the 1995 Ontario provincial election campaign, Cohen was one of several MPs, alongside Jane Stewart, Paddy Torsney, Benoît Serré and Stan Dromisky, who made speeches in the federal House of Commons campaigning on behalf of McLeod's Ontario Liberal Party and against the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Mike Harris.[14]

In September 1995, she was one of only a few MPs to vote in favour of Réal Ménard's private member's motion calling on the government to recognize same-sex marriage.[15]

In January 1996, she travelled to the Middle East as an election monitor for the Palestinian Authority election.[16] In March, she was appointed to and named as chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice.[17] In this capacity, she conducted a review of the federal Young Offenders Act, which led to reforms announced by Justice Minister Anne McLellan in 1998.[18]

She was re-elected in the 1997 election by a narrower margin, due to a significant resurgence in support for the New Democratic Party.[19] Her NDP challenger was Joe Comartin.[19] In her second term, she identified one of her key goals as advocating for a crossnational environmental project to clean up pollution in the Detroit River.[20]

On December 9, 1998, she collapsed in the House of Commons, just seconds after she had stood to address the House.[1] She had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was pronounced dead soon afterward.[1] She was the fifth MP in Canadian history to die on Parliament Hill, and the first ever to suffer a fatal health incident in the House of Commons rather than in her office.[21]

In the House the following day, MPs from all parties spoke in tribute to Cohen.[21] Reform Party MP Randy White praised her personality as "a seemingly impossible combination of vigorous partisanship and open-minded friendship,"[21] while New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough paid tribute to Cohen's passionate belief in "the pursuit of justice for the rights of those who were not being fully respected."[21] Historian Charlotte Gray, a personal friend of Cohen's, revealed that Cohen had once filled the glass on Paul Martin's House of Commons desk with gin just before a budget speech,[1] while Liberal Party strategist Jerry Yanover described her as "an up-front, in-your-face, old-fashioned Liberal, the kind that had principles and didn't compromise them."[3] Following the speeches, MPs unanimously agreed to immediately adjourn the House for the Christmas holiday, several days earlier than planned.[21]

Following her death, her widower Jerry ran for the Liberal nomination in the resulting by-election,[22] but lost to city councillor Rick Limoges.[23] Limoges won the by-election, narrowly defeating Comartin, although Comartin defeated Limoges in the 2000 election.

Legacy

In 2000, the Writers' Trust of Canada instituted a literary award, the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing, in her memory.[24] Journalist Susan Delacourt published a biography of Cohen, Shaughnessy: The Passionate Politics of Shaughnessy Cohen, the same year.[25]

Electoral record

1988 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Howard McCurdy 18,915
  Liberal Shaughnessy Cohen 16,192
  Progressive Conservative Bruck Easton 8,453
1993 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  Liberal Shaughnessy Cohen 22,958
  New Democratic Party Howard McCurdy 8,871
  Progressive Conservative Tom Porter 4,553
  Reform Greg Novini 4,153
Green Stephen Harvey 379
  Natural Law Stephanie Moniatowicz 194
  Marxist-Leninist Dale Woodyard 61
  Abolitionist Ayesha F. Bharmal 52
1997 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  Liberal Shaughnessy Cohen 16,496
  New Democratic Party Joe Comartin 14,237
  Reform Harold Downs 5,899
  Progressive Conservative Bruck Easton 4,253
Green Timothy Dugdale 357
  Marxist-Leninist Dale Woodyard 115

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "MP dies after collapsing in House: Shaughnessy Cohen". National Post, December 10, 1998.
  2. ^ a b c d e "New Kids on the Block: Shaughnessy Cohen: Feisty, competitive, dedicated". Windsor Star, November 20, 1993.
  3. ^ a b "Liberal MP's charm won friends in all parties". The Globe and Mail, December 10, 1998.
  4. ^ "Cohen seeks nomination". Windsor Star, April 27, 1988.
  5. ^ "McCurdy wins battle, vows to continue war". Windsor Star, November 22, 1988.
  6. ^ "Liberals sweep Ontario Party gets 98 ridings, Reform grabs one". Toronto Star, October 26, 1993.
  7. ^ "Defaulted on debt, new MP sued Windsor-area Liberal says 'refinancing plan on line'". The Globe and Mail, November 4, 1993.
  8. ^ "Cohen takes oath of office". Windsor Star, November 13, 1993.
  9. ^ "Federal building to be a monument to Martin". Windsor Star, January 8, 1994.
  10. ^ "Cohen skewered in Frank magazine". Windsor Star, January 21, 1994.
  11. ^ "Cohen on committee". Windsor Star, February 2, 1994.
  12. ^ "Cohen backs same-sex bill". Windsor Star, June 2, 1994.
  13. ^ "Gray, Cohen have key roles in CSIS probe". Windsor Star, August 30, 1994.
  14. ^ "Cohen leads McLeod's cheerleaders in House". Windsor Star, June 8, 1995.
  15. ^ "Gay-spouse motion fails despite Cohen's support". Windsor Star, September 19, 1995.
  16. ^ "Cohen to help monitor Palestinian elections". Windsor Star, January 11, 1996.
  17. ^ "Local Liberal MPs elected to House committee posts". Windsor Star, March 15, 1996.
  18. ^ "Jury's still out on changes, local observers say: Money will be needed to make sure the YOA amendments have chance to work". Windsor Star, May 13, 1998.
  19. ^ a b "Cohen wins tight race". Windsor Star, June 3, 1997.
  20. ^ "River cleanup effort at 'critical' juncture". Windsor Star, January 24, 1998.
  21. ^ a b c d e "Tears for colleague in Commons: Liberal MP Shaughnessy Cohen is remembered as a good friend and a tenacious opponent". Montreal Gazette, December 11, 1998.
  22. ^ "Shaughnessy Cohen's husband wants to run for her old seat: Jerry Cohen makes bid for Liberal nod, saying he doesn't want `grief' vote". National Post, January 13, 1999.
  23. ^ "Jerry Cohen loses bid for federal Liberal seat". Edmonton Journal, February 20, 1999.
  24. ^ "Spirit of Shaughnessy Cohen lives on at literary dinner on Hill". Ottawa Citizen, May 4, 2000.
  25. ^ "A woman's place is in the House". The Globe and Mail, June 17, 2000.
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