John Savage

John Patrick Savage (May 28, 1932 – May 13, 2003) was a Welsh-born Canadian physician and politician. Savage was the 23rd premier of Nova Scotia between 1993 and 1997. He was born in Wales, and educated in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. He immigrated to Canada in 1967 and was a noted family physician in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He became the mayor of Dartmouth in 1985, and won re-election twice. He then became the leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party in 1992 and stepped down as mayor. In 1993, he defeated the incumbent provincial government and became premier. Savage was a controversial premier, bringing in many reforms in taxation, regional government, and government hiring practices. He resigned as premier in 1997 due to his low approval ratings in public polls. He died of cancer at the age of 70 in 2003. He was the father of Mike Savage, current mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Early life Born in Newport, Wales, he was the son of an Irish Roman Catholic doctor father and a Welsh Baptist housewife mother. He attended school at Prior Park College, Bath, before attending Queen's University of Belfast to become a physician. Nova Scotia He was generally unhappy with the United Kingdom's government-run healthcare system known as the National Health Service. When he saw an advertisement for doctors in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Savage decided to pack up his family and move across the ocean to continue his medical practice in 1967. He made a name for himself as the "hippie doctor" in the 1970s, due to his beard and progressive health stances. By setting up a detox centre — and a free clinic in the economically disadvantaged and mostly black community of North Preston — he assured his reputation as a left-winger. He started his political life running for federal office in the Halifax area in the 1970s. He was defeated twice as a federal Liberal Party candidate. In 1985, he ran successfully to become the mayor of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where he lived. While mayor, he received a reputation as a left-wing free spender. He was re-elected as mayor in both 1988 and 1991.