A pharmacist by career, Mooney owned and operated City Drug Store in downtown Yarmouth, Nova Scotia for over 50 years.[3]
Politics
Mooney served on Yarmouth town council from 1957 to 1965.[4] He attempted to enter provincial politics in the 1967 election, but was defeated.[5] He ran again in the 1970 election, and was elected with Progressive Conservative George Snow in the dual-member Yarmouth County riding.[6] He was re-elected in the 1974[7] and 1978 elections.[8]
In November 1971, Mooney was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Municipal Affairs.[9] In September 1972, he was given additional roles in cabinet as Minister of Tourism, and Minister responsible for the Liquor Control Act.[10] In an August 1973 cabinet shuffle, Mooney left the tourism ministry but kept the Municipal Affairs portfolio, as well as responsibility for the Liquor Control Act.[11]
In February 1976, Mooney was shuffled to Minister of Highways, where he remained until the Liberal government was defeated in 1978.[2] In June 1980, Mooney ran for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, finishing third at the convention that elected Sandy Cameron the new leader.[12][13]
Mooney was re-elected in the new single-member riding of Yarmouth in the 1981 election, defeating former Progressive Conservative MLA Benoit Robichaud by 479 votes.[14] In the 1984 election, Mooney was defeated by Progressive Conservative Alex McIntosh.[15]
Mooney tried to win back the Yarmouth seat in the 1988 election, but was defeated by Progressive Conservative Leroy Legere.[16] Mooney made another political comeback attempt in 1994, when he challenged incumbent Charles Crosby for the mayor's seat in Yarmouth.[4][17]
On January 5, 2006, aged 78, Mooney died at his home in Yarmouth.[4]