Wayne Steeves

O. Wayne Steeves was born on 12 December 1944 in Lower Coverdale, New Brunswick, the son of Noel Steeves and Vera Downing. He was educated in local schools around Moncton.

Before winning a seat he spent decades in public service and party work. He was special assistant to the federal Member of Parliament for Fundy-Royal from 1978 to 1981 and executive assistant to New Brunswick's minister of agriculture and natural resources from 1981 to 1987. He organised campaigns for Progressive Conservative leadership candidates and served as past president of the Albert PC Association. From 1982 he ran Way-Mac Ventures Ltd., a promotional product business. He also volunteered locally, including on the Lower Coverdale Community Cemetery Committee and as a former trustee of Lower Coverdale Baptist Church.

Steeves contested Albert for the Progressive Conservatives in every provincial election from 1991. After losses in 1991 and 1995 he won the seat in 1999 and held it through re-elections in 2003 and 2006.

In June 2003 Premier Bernard Lord named him minister of public safety. He left cabinet after the 2006 election, when the Progressive Conservatives formed the opposition, and served as opposition critic on public safety issues and on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. He announced he would not run again in 2014, saying the previous fifteen years as MLA had been rewarding and that he wanted more time with his family. Brian Keirstead succeeded him in Albert.

In May 2014 he introduced a bill that would have required an MLA who left one party for another to resign and contest a byelection. He told CBC News the proposal was a matter of principle after earlier floor-crossings in the province.

Legislative biographies recorded that Steeves and his wife, Tanya, lived in Lower Coverdale and had two daughters, Krista and Melissa. Obituaries after his death spoke of faith, family, friendship, laughter and lifelong service to Albert County. He often thanked the people of the riding for their support.

Wayne Steeves died peacefully on the night of Monday, 12 October 2026. Local news outlets including Your Saint John and Acadia News reported the death on 14 October, citing his obituary, which gave his age as 82. Wikipedia lists his date of birth as 12 December 1944. No cause of death was made public in the first reports. Condolences were offered by friends, family and public figures across New Brunswick.

Steeves is remembered as a long-serving Albert County MLA and as public safety minister in the Lord government. In his own retirement words he pointed to nursing home and school projects, municipal water and sewer work, community centres and support for completing the Fundy Trail. The Steeves House Museum in Hillsborough keeps a short profile of his legislative career among county political notes.