Distinguished Canadian Annual Address 2008

The Honourable    Dr. John Hamm

Co-Chair, Democracy 250

The Development of

Democracy in Canada

Born and raised in New Glasgow, John Hamm received his Bachelor of Science degree from University of King's College before graduating from Dalhousie Medical School in 1963.

For the next 30 years, Dr. Hamm served his community as a family doctor, practicing in the Town of Stellarton and surrounding Pictou County communities. Throughout his medical career, Dr. Hamm served as president on a number of local and provincial boards, including the Aberdeen Hospital medical staff, the Pictou County Medical Society, the Nova Scotia Medical Society and the College of Family Physicians of Nova Scotia. He was also a member of the Provincial Medical Board and served as chair of the Aberdeen Hospital Foundation. 

In May 1993, Dr. Hamm left the medical profession to serve his community as the MLA for Pictou Centre. In 1995, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives elected him party leader and on July 27, 1999, Dr. Hamm led the Progressive Conservative Party to a majority government. He was sworn in as Nova Scotia's 25th Premier on August 2, 1999, a position he held until he stepped down as Premier and Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in February 2006.

The Democracy 250 initiative has been established to recognize Nova Scotia's pioneering role in shaping the evolution of democracy in Canada, and to generate a greater appreciation of the value and importance of democracy's influence on the lives of Canadian's and the nation's prosperity.