Lila O'Connor

{{short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| name = Lila O'Connor

| caption =

| birth_date = 1940

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and given age|2017|12|05|77}}

| death_place =

| residence = Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

| office = MLA for Lunenburg

| term_start = 1993

| term_end = 1998

| predecessor = new riding

| successor = Michael Baker

| party = Liberal

}}

Lila O'Connor (1940 – December 5, 2017)[https://www.afterlife.co/ca/obituary-mahone-bay-lila-j-oconnor-6529315 Lila J. O'Connor obituary], afterlife.co; accessed January 14, 2018. was a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Lunenburg in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1993 to 1998. She was a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.{{cite web|url=http://nslegislature.ca/pdfs/about/ConstituencyHistories/lunenburg.pdf|title=Electoral History for Lunenburg|publisher=Nova Scotia Legislative Library|accessdate=2018-01-14}}

After an unsuccessful attempt to win the provincial Liberal nomination in a Lunenburg area riding in 1988,{{cite web|url=http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/20020206/News/57868/Women-still-badly-needed-in-politics-say-Brown-O'Connor.htm|title=Women still badly needed in politics say Brown, O'Connor|work=South Shore Now|date=February 6, 2002|accessdate=2014-10-17|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026023609/http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/20020206/News/57868/Women-still-badly-needed-in-politics-say-Brown-O%27Connor.htm|archivedate=October 26, 2014}} O'Connor turned to municipal politics and was elected a town councilor in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia.{{cite web|url=http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/20121024/News/8940/Two-veteran-councillors-ousted-in-Mahone-Bay.htm|title=Two veteran councillors ousted in Mahone Bay|work=South Shore Now|date=October 24, 2012|accessdate=2014-10-17|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026023750/http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/20121024/News/8940/Two-veteran-councillors-ousted-in-Mahone-Bay.htm|archivedate=October 26, 2014}}

She held the seat until resigning in 1993 to enter provincial politics. In the 1993 election, she was elected MLA for Lunenburg, defeating the incumbent from Lunenburg Centre, Al Mosher by 273 votes.{{cite web|url=http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201993.pdf|title=Returns of General Election for the House of Assembly 1993|publisher=Elections Nova Scotia|year=1993|accessdate=2014-10-17|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070337/http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201993.pdf|archivedate=2014-10-06}}{{cite web|url=http://www.herald.ns.ca/cgi-bin/home/displaypackstory?1993/05/26+106.raw+PE93Elect|title=Female representation increases, but not by much|work=The Chronicle Herald|date=May 26, 1993|accessdate=2014-10-17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001007113627/http://www.herald.ns.ca/cgi-bin/home/displaypackstory?1993%2F05%2F26%2B106.raw%2BPE93Elect|archivedate=October 7, 2000|url-status=dead}}

She served as a backbench member of John Savage's government. She was defeated by Progressive Conservative Michael Baker when she ran for re-election in the 1998 election. She was again nominated as the Liberal candidate in the riding for the 1999 election,{{cite web|url=http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/19990512/News/63005/O'Connor-chosen-Liberal-candidate.htm|title=O'Connor chosen Liberal candidate|work=South Shore Now|date=May 12, 1999|accessdate=2014-10-17|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026023612/http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/19990512/News/63005/O%27Connor-chosen-Liberal-candidate.htm|archivedate=October 26, 2014}} but was again defeated by Baker.{{cite web|url=http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/99LUN.pdf|title=Election Returns, 1999 (Lunenburg)|publisher=Elections Nova Scotia|accessdate=2014-10-17}} O'Connor returned to municipal politics in 2000, and served as a town councillor in Mahone Bay for 12 years, before being defeated in 2012.