He was the last Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia to be appointed by the Premier rather than elected by his peers.
[1] He was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly representing Halifax Bedford Basin as a Liberal in the 1993 provincial election[2][3] and was appointed chairman of the legislature's community services committee which studied the introduction of casinos to the province.
The choice of Speaker became a contentious issue with Liberal Premier Russell MacLellan supporting Fogarty to continue in the position while the Opposition parties demanded that the Speaker be elected by the legislature rather than appointed by the Premier which had been the practice until then.
Fogarty was also defeated in his attempt to win the position of Deputy Speaker by NDP MLA Don Chard.
[9] The government was defeated within a year and Fogarty did not re-offer in the 1999 provincial election.