Shaughnessy Cohen

Elizabeth Shaughnessy Cohen (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 to her death.

She was born in London, Ontario, and she worked as a lawyer before entering politics. She stood as the Liberal candidate in Windsor—St. Clair, in the 1988 election, but lost to New Democratic Party incumbent Howard McCurdy. However, in the 1993 election, Cohen defeated McCurdy for the seat. She was then re-elected in 1997.

In 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.

In the by-election that followed in early 1999, Liberal candidate Rick Limoges narrowly defeated Joe Comartin of the NDP. However, in the 2000 election, Comartin won the seat.

Legacy

In 2000, the Writers' Trust of Canada instituted a literary award, the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing, in her memory. Journalist Susan Delacourt published a biography of Cohen, Shaughnessy: The Passionate Politics of Shaughnessy Cohen,^[2] the same year.

External links

• Shaughnessy Cohen – Parliament of Canada biography

References