PEI·NewFormer federal fisheries minister Gail Shea spent some time near the end of her life in a Moncton hospital, where she reconnected with Father Frank Quinn, whom she had known when he was in a very different line of work. Shea ‘wanted to do the best that she could for the people that she was there to serve’Delaney Kelly · CBC News · Posted: Aug 27, 2025 5:13 PM EDT | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago’She was a woman of great faith,’ who greatly valued her large family, Quinn said of Gail Shea. (CBC Wayne Thibodeau )As former federal fisheries minister Gail Shea spent time near the end of her life in the Moncton Hospital, she reconnected with Father Frank Quinn, whom she had known when he was in a very different line of work.About 15 years ago, he was an employee for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Whitehorse, Yukon. As the political head of that department during the Harper years, Shea made a lasting impression during her visits. Now he’s a priest based in New Brunswick whose service includes visiting Catholic patients at the hospital in Moncton. “I got the call and went and it was her and it was great to meet her again,” said Quinn, who would go on to give the homily at Shea’s funeral in Tignish, P.E.I., on Wednesday.Quinn is remembering her fondly. “She was true to what she believed in. She believed in the truth,” he said in an interview with CBC Prince Edward Island’s Island Morning.”She believed in the beauty of her Island, of the people that she served, of the people of Canada that she was called to serve, but also … and above all, the beauty of the family that she was blessed with.” Former minister of fisheries and oceans Gail Shea will be remembered by Catholic priest Father Frank Quinn as someone who fought for the people she served. (The Canadian Press)Quinn’s life trajectory shifted when his wife died, leading him to enter the priesthood, something he does not believe Shea knew before they met again in the hospital where she was receiving treatment. “She was a woman of great faith,” the priest said. ‘She knew her stuff’ Reflecting back to the days when Shea was his ultimate boss, Quinn said the P.E.I. politician was very knowledgeable and made a real difference for people. “The work that she did… the support for the fishing industry, the catch certification centre that’s in Tignish, you know, other projects that came to the Island … she was instrumental in making that happen, to make her Island a better place,” Quinn said.”To me, that’s the measure of that life.”A political powerhouse from a fishing family in western P.E.I., Gail Shea has died at age 66Gail Shea began her political journey back in 1996, determined to represent the people and issues in her community, and make changes she said were desperately needed. As CBC’s Sheehan Desjardins reports, that journey took her to Parliament Hill and eventually the federal cabinet table. Coming from a fishing community in P.E.I., he said, “she knew her stuff. I mean, she was the minister for the fishermen, for the communities that depend so heavily on the fisheries for their economy. She wanted to do the best that she could for the people that she was there to serve.”But Quinn said she added a more personal tone and playfulness to the way she interacted with her colleagues.He recalled her flying to Canada’s North to take part in a retirement celebration, only to learn that the man was sick and could not attend. They had a cardboard cutout of him at the Whitehorse office, so Shea gave her goodbye speech to the cutout instead.”There’ll be many more stories than I could tell of how she reached out and touched people and, you know, supported them, went to bat for them,” Quinn said. ABOUT THE AUTHORDelaney Kelly is a journalist with CBC P.E.I. who studied journalism at Concordia University. She was previously a reporter at Iori:wase in Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. With files from Wayne Thibodeau, Island Morning
Priest who grew close to Gail Shea calls her someone who went to bat for Canadians
