Minister of Justice and Public Safety
Attorney General
Minister Responsible for Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Minister Responsible for the Human Rights Commission
Helen Conway Ottenheimer holds degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland (PoliSci 1984) and University of Toronto, Centre of Criminology (Crim 1986). She obtained a Juris Doctor in 1990 at Detroit College of Law and passed the Michigan State Bar in 1991. She was called to the Bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1996 as well as the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar in 2006. After her call to the Ontario bar, Helen worked exclusively as a criminal lawyer in Windsor, Ontario. She has appeared before both trial and appellant courts. Helen has also defended the legal rights of individuals as a litigator with the Human Rights Commission of NL, a position she held until her return to a full-time teaching career.
Over twenty years ago, as a young defence lawyer, she began teaching law courses at the University of Windsor. In addition to teaching courses in Police Studies, Political Science, Gender Studies, Labour Relations and Business Law at Memorial’s Faculty of Business, she was a term adjunct at Queens Law School and Queens Sociology Department in Kingston, Ontario where she taught Human Rights Law and other law related courses in person and online.
Helen was first elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in 2019 and presently sits as the MHA for the District of Harbour Main. She is currently the Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Helen was born and raised in Marysvale and currently resides there with her husband John Ottenheimer.