Zach Churchill


Zachariah Churchill is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia. He is a current member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly having served since June 2010.

Early life and education

Churchill graduated from Saint Mary's University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts. He served as National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations from 2007 to 2009.

Political career

Churchill successfully ran for the nomination of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party in the riding of Yarmouth in May 2010. He won the by-election held on June 22, 2010 which was contested between six mostly high-profile candidates. Churchill garnered just over half the popular vote, defeating a former MLA John Deveau, a former 20-year mayor of the Town of Yarmouth Charles Crosby and two minor party leaders. He became the first Lebanese Canadian elected to the Nova Scotia legislature.
Churchill was re-elected in the 2013 general election. On October 22, 2013, Churchill was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Natural Resources.
On July 24, 2015, premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet, moving Churchill to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister of Communications Nova Scotia.
On June 15, 2017, Churchill was shuffled to Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.
On March 27, 2019, Churchill was accused by PC Leader Tim Houston of laying his hands on Houston while he sat in a phone booth in the Legislature. This was prompted by Houston's criticism of the Yarmouth Ferry contract. Despite stating he supported an investigation into the incident, Churchill and the Liberal government majority voted against referring the incident to the Internal Affairs Committee.
On April 1, 2019, former NDP MLAs Ramona Jennex and Denise Peterson-Rafuse wrote to the Speaker of the House Kevin Murphy to inform him that they each experienced touching from Churchill without their consent. Jennex indicated that Churchill berated her and poked her shoulder so hard it pushed her backwards in an incident on April 12, 2012. Peterson-Rafuse said that Churchill crossed the floor after Question Period and came up to her desk from behind, yanking her shoulder with some force. Churchill denied both incidents stating that he never touched anyone in an aggressive way in the chamber or poked anyone's shoulder.

Electoral record