View source for Joan Cook

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{About|the Canadian politician|the American journalist|Joan Riddell Cook}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = Joan Cook
| honorific-suffix = 
| image            = 
| imagesize        = 
| order            = 
| office           = [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] from [[Newfoundland & Labrador]]
| term_start       = March 6, 1998
| term_end         = October 6, 2009
| predecessor      = [[Gerald Ottenheimer]]
| successor        = [[Elizabeth Marshall (politician)|Elizabeth Marshall]]
| monarch          = [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]]
| primeminister    = [[Jean Chrétien]]<br />[[Paul Martin]]<br />[[Stephen Harper]]
| nationality      = Canadian
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1934|10|6}}
| birth_place      = [[English Harbour West, Newfoundland and Labrador|English Harbour West]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]
| spouse           = Widow
| profession       = Businesswoman
| religion         = 
| }}

'''Joan Cook''' (born October 6, 1934) was a [[Senate of Canada|Canadian Senator]] for [[Newfoundland and Labrador]].

==Biography==
Cook was born in [[English Harbour West]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland]]. In her working life, Cook was, variously, a businesswoman who served as vice-president of her family's automobile dealership, Cook and Jones Motors, an executive with [[CJON-DT|CJON]] radio and television, and an executive with Robert Simpson Eastern Ltd.

Cook has also been heavily involved with charitable efforts, chairing fundraising campaigns for Newfoundland's branch of the [[Canadian Cancer Society]]. Cook also served on the board of directors for Newfoundland and Labrador's Pottle Center for mental health.

After twice running unsuccessfully as a [[Newfoundland & Labrador Liberal Party|Liberal]] candidate in the 1993 and 1996 [[List of Newfoundland and Labrador general elections|Newfoundland and Labrador general elections]], Cook was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]] by [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Roméo LeBlanc]] on March 6, 1998, on the advice of Liberal Prime Minister [[Jean Chrétien]].
As a senator, Cook served on many committees, such as the senate committee on Fisheries and Oceans. Cook also served as opposition whip of the senate from 2005 to 2007. 

Due to the [[mandatory retirement]] age for [[Senate of Canada|Canadian Senator]]s, Cook resigned from her appointment as [[List of Newfoundland and Labrador senators|Newfoundland and Labrador Senator]] on October 6, 2009.

==Electoral history==

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6"|[[Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi]] – [[1996 Newfoundland and Labrador general election]]
|-
! colspan="2" style="width: 200px"|Party
! style="width: 170px"|Candidate
! style="width: 40px"|Votes
! style="width: 40px"|%
! style="width: 40px"|+/-
{{Canadian party colour|NL|NDP|row-name}}
|[[Jack Harris (Newfoundland and Labrador politician)|Jack Harris]]
|align=right|2,800
|align=right|
|align=right|
{{Canadian party colour|NL|Liberal|row-name}}
|Joan Cook
|align=right|1,661
|align=right|
|align=right|
{{Canadian party colour|NL|PC|row-name}}
|Cy Mills
|align=right|902
|align=right|
|align=right|
{{Canadian party colour|NL|Independent|row-name}}
|Jason Crummey
|align=right|120
|align=right|
|align=right|
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6"|[[Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi|St. John's East]] – [[1993 Newfoundland and Labrador general election]]
|-
! colspan="2" style="width: 200px"|Party
! style="width: 170px"|Candidate
! style="width: 40px"|Votes
! style="width: 40px"|%
! style="width: 40px"|+/-
|-
{{Canadian party colour|NL|NDP|row-name}}
|[[Jack Harris (Newfoundland and Labrador politician)|Jack Harris]]
|align=right|2,336
|align=right|
|align=right|
|-
{{Canadian party colour|NL|Liberal|row-name}}
|Joan Cook
|align=right|1,728
|align=right|
|align=right|
|-
{{Canadian party colour|NL|PC|row-name}}
|Sean Fitzgerald
|align=right|1,285
|align=right|
|align=right|
|-
|}

==External links==
*{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=731}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090813001750/http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/Senator/cookj Liberal Senate Forum]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Joan}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Canadian senators from Newfoundland and Labrador]]
[[Category:Women members of the Senate of Canada]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada senators]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Newfoundland (island)]]
[[Category:Women in Newfoundland and Labrador politics]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Senate of Canada]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the Senate of Canada]]