Ryan Cleary (born November 20, 1966) is a Canadian politician and journalist from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for St. John's South—Mount Pearl.

Born in Gander and raised in Riverhead, Harbour Grace, and Bay Roberts, Cleary graduated from the journalism program at the Stephenville campus of the College of the North Atlantic in 1989. On May 2, 2011, Cleary was elected to the House of Commons in the 2011 election.

As a journalist, Cleary covered most of the major events in Newfoundland and Labrador over the past two decades. He was fisheries reporter for The Telegram in 1992 when the moratorium was first introduced on northern cod. He also worked as a political and investigative reporter and has won numerous journalism awards and accolades throughout his career.

Cleary was the editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper and was known for his outspoken and controversial articles. As a journalist Cleary was critical of the NDP and had advocated for Newfoundland and Labrador separating from Canada. When The Independent went out of business he went on to host Nightline, a VOCM radio call in program. Cleary also worked for The Newfoundland Herald, NTV, and Time Magazine.

Damien Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion.

Rice was raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland and began his musical career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper. After leaving the band he worked as a farmer in Tuscany and busked throughout Europe before returning to Ireland in 2001 and beginning a solo musical career.

In 2002 his debut album O reached #8 on the UK albums chart, won the Shortlist music prize and generated three top-30 singles in the UK. Rice released his second album 9 in 2006 and his songs have appeared in numerous films and television episodes.

Rice's personal activities include musical contributions to charitable projects such as the Songs for Tibet, Freedom Campaign and the Enough Project.

Rice was born to George and Maureen Rice and raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.

Rice began his music career using the stage name "Dodima" Rice^{[citation needed]} and formed the rock band Juniper along with Paul Noonan, Dominic Philips, David Geraghty and Brian Crosby in 1991. The band met whilst they were attending Salesian College secondary school in Celbridge, Co. Kildare as students. After touring throughout Ireland the band released their debut EP Manna in 1995.
Based in Straffan, Kildare the band continued touring and signed a six album record deal with Polygram. Their recording projects generated the singles “Weatherman” and “Single of the Fortnight” which received favorable reviews.

Dale Kirby MHA (born May 19, 1971) is a Canadian politician and university professor, who was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2011 provincial election.

Kirby represents the provincial district of St. John's North. He is the New Democratic Party critic for education, advanced education and skills, status of persons with disabilities, youth engagement, labour, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission, and the Labour Relations Agency. He was president of the New Democratic Party of Newfoundland and Labrador from 2010 to 2011.

Kirby was born in St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula. He was raised on a small farm in Lord's Cove where generations of his family have worked in inshore fishing industries. Kirby earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland before completing a doctorate in higher education theory and policy studies at the University of Toronto.

As chairperson of the Newfoundland and Labrador component of the Canadian Federation of Students in the 1990s, Kirby led a successful campaign to freeze college and university tuition fees in Newfoundland and Labrador. Prior to joining Memorial University, he worked as a senior advisor on education policy in the Ontario Public Service.

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian social democratic politician and Leader of the Official Opposition. He was leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of "Acting Mayor" or "Deputy Mayor" of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. He was the Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death.

Son of a Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, Layton was raised in Hudson, Quebec. He rose to prominence in Toronto municipal politics where he was one of the most prominent left-wing voices on city and Metropolitan Toronto councils, championing many progressive causes. In 1991, he ran for mayor, losing to June Rowlands. Returning to council he rose to become head of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. In 2003, he was elected leader of the federal NDP on the first ballot of the convention.

Under his leadership, support for the NDP increased in each election. The party's popular vote almost doubled in the 2004 election, which gave the NDP the balance of power in Paul Martin's minority government. In May 2005 the NDP supported the Liberal budget in exchange for major amendments, in what was promoted as Canada's "First NDP budget". In November of that year, Layton voted with other opposition parties to defeat the Liberal government over the findings of the Gomery Commission. The NDP saw further gains in the 2006 and 2008 elections, in which the party elected 29 and 37 MPs, respectively.

Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP (born September 27, 1965) is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada. He is married to Nazanin Afshin-Jam an Iranian-Canadian model, singer, and human rights activist, and a former Miss World Canada.

MacKay was the final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC Party). On October 15, 2003, he and Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper agreed to merge the two parties, forming the Conservative Party of Canada. In December 2003, members of both parties ratified the merger.

MacKay was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. His father, Elmer MacKay, is a former PC cabinet minister, lumber businessman, and lawyer. His mother, Macha MacKay (née Delap), is a psychologist and peace activist; through her, MacKay is descended from James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Caledon and James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam. MacKay grew up in Wolfville, Nova Scotia with his three siblings. He graduated from Horton District High School in Greenwich, Nova Scotia, and then went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Acadia University/Carleton University in 1987, MacKay then studied Law at Dalhousie University and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in June 1991. He worked for Thyssen Henschel, steel producer, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in Düsseldorf and Kassel, Germany.