Kenneth F. Moore
Kenneth F. Moore
Doctor of Civil Law
From 1939, for the next eighteen years, the sea played a major role in the life of Mr. Moore, in that he served with the British Merchant Marine (1939-1952) and the Canadian Navy (1953-1957). While serving in the former, he earned a Certificate of Competency, British Master Mariners' (Foreign Going) as well as a Destroyer Watch-Keeping Certificate. While in the Canadian Navy, he earned a Certificate in Competency, Canadian Master Mariners.
The next ten years of his life (1957-1967), he was a Life Insurance Agent, involved in corporate and business insurance.
Then, in 1967, he directed the development of the completely new Marine Navigation and Fisheries School in such areas as curriculum development; staff recruiting, selecting, and training; financial negotiations; and overall designing of the administrative and organizational structure. Students seeking qualifications ranged from those with small boat pleasure craft requirements for carrying tourists to Fishing Master and Mates, Home Trade Master. He holds a Grade 7 Vocational Teachers Certificate.
From 1973 to 1977, he served as the Vice President of Operations, Keltic Savings Corporation during its multi-million dollar expansion. In 1977, he formed the Atlantic Benefit Consultants Limited which worked in the Employee Benefit field. Twenty years later, in 1997, this company merged with the Belmont Financial Group and Mr. Moore remained as an Associate Consultant. He is a Chartered Life Underwriter.
The achievement for which Mr. Moore is undoubtedly best known to Nova Scotians and many other Canadians was his vigorous lobbying over three decades for recognition of merchant mariners as World War II veterans. As he noted "[h]aving experienced the war at sea throughout World War II and witnessing the treatment of Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans, I decided to attempt to rectify this." Hence, in 1976, he formed the company of Master Mariners of Canada and raised the question of recognition for the Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans. An important event in the history of that organization occurred in 1980, when Mr. Moore's article in The Chronicle Herald contained a criticism of the Battle of the Atlantic Sunday Ceremony for failing to recognize the heavy losses and sacrifices of the Merchant Seaman during the War. Throughout the next twenty years, he lectured to numerous groups, on the theme of the extravagant veteran benefits to armed forces ignoring the many times heavier losses of Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans.
During the last years of the 20th century, he devoted all his efforts and energy in close support of Mr. Aurele Ferlatte, chief negotiator for veterans of the Canadian Merchant Navy and President of the Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans' Association Inc. His tremendous efforts paid off when, on the 4 May 2001, a final settlement of $104.5 million was announced. It was placed in educational trust funds in partnership with the Canadian Scholarship Trust which enables thousands of Canadians to attend port-secondary institutions. In addition to his pivotal work both with the Merchant Marine and in the insurance world, he still found time for his involvement with such other organizations as the Newfoundland Society of Nova Scotia; the Saint George Society of Nova Scotia; and the Royal Colonial Institute Lodge, Zion College, London, England.