New Liberal Premier Iain Rankin and his first Cabinet were sworn in on Feb 23rd, 2021. With a provincial election to be triggered no later than May 2022 due to provincial election laws, Premier Rankin’s first Cabinet is the result of a delicate balancing act of Party unity and candidate recruitment, as is evidenced by former Leadership rivals having been tapped to serve in key cabinet positions of Finance (Labi Kousoulis) and Justice (Randy Delorey). Minister Geoff MacLellan, now the Minister tasked with establishing the new Department of Infrastructure and Housing, is the only Minister in the new Cabinet to have announced he will not be re-offering in the next election.
Along with the swearing in of Ministers, changes were announced to the structure of Cabinet. Specifically, the cabinet includes the new Department of Infrastructure and Housing, the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives, and a new Office of Mental Health and Addictions under the Department of Health and Wellness. Additionally, several departments were renamed to reflect the premier’s focus on population growth, climate change and infrastructure.
While the Liberals have regressed from recent polling highs of near 50% support throughout the pandemic, recent polls show the Liberals sitting at 37% support with decided voters, an 8-point edge over the second place Progressive Conservatives. It can be expected that in upcoming polling results the Liberals will experience a small boost given as is typically experienced by political parties following a leadership race.
Key Cabinet Members
Iain Rankin – Premier
Rankin’s largest file is environmentalism. Rankin has pledged to get the province off coal and increase the use of renewable energy and has hopes to make Nova Scotia the first province in the country to be net carbon neutral. Rankin on Friday announced new restrictions for the Halifax Regional Municipality and other parts of the province, saying effective Saturday restaurants and licenced establishments in the affected areas will close one hour earlier. He said it is not permanent but at least for the next month, and is a result of COVID-19 “making a comeback.”
- Also responsible for:
- President of the Executive Council
- Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Minister of L’nu Affairs
- Minister of Regulatory Affairs and Service Effectiveness
- Minister responsible for Military Relations
- Minister responsible for Youth
- Minister responsible for the Office of Citizen-Centered Approaches
Honourable Labi Kousoulis – Minister of Finance and Treasury Board
The runner-up to Rankin in the Leadership race, Kousoulis (a former accountant and small business operator) becomes Minister of Finance and will oversee the Department of Inclusive and Economic Growth, while taking on responsibility for trade.
- Also responsible for:
- Minister responsible for the Credit Union Act
- Minister responsible for the Insurance Act and the Insurance Premiums Tax Act
- Minister responsible for the Liquor Control Act
- Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation
- Minister responsible for Part I of the Gaming Control Act
- Minister responsible for the Securities Act
- Minister responsible for the Utility and Review Board Act
- Minister responsible for the Chartered Professional Accountants Act
- Minister of Inclusive Economic Growth
- Minister of Trade
- Minister responsible for Nova Scotia Business Incorporated
- Minister responsible for the Innovation Corporation Act
- Minister responsible for Tourism Nova Scotia
Honourable Randy Delorey – Attorney General and Minister of Justice
Most recently the Minister of Health, Delorey was highly-favoured to win the Leadership race after coalescing strong caucus support and building a campaign team that included several holdovers from Premier McNeil. He is highly educated as an alumni of St. Francis Xavier University, Université de Moncton, and is currently a PhD candidate in management at Saint Mary’s University. He began his political career in 2013. Also responsible for:
- Provincial Secretary
- Minister of Labour Relations
- Minister responsible for the Elections Act
- Minister responsible for the Human Rights Act
- Minister responsible for the Regulations Act
- Minister responsible for Part II of the Workers’ Compensation Act
- Minister responsible for the Retail Business Designated Day Closing Act
- Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Police Complaints Commissioner
- Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Police Review Board
- Minister responsible for the Accessibility Act
Honourable Kelly Regan – Deputy Premier
A strong backer of Randy Delorey’s leadership campaign, Regan’s promotion to Deputy Premier is a clear sign of Rankin’s commitment to shoring up Party unity with his first Cabinet. A graduate of UWaterloo, Regan is a former journalist who has focused on health, women’s empowerment, and youth. She is also the partner of Liberal MP Geoff Regan, a former Speaker of the House of Commons and Cabinet Minister.
- Regan is also responsible for:
- Minister of Community Services
- Minister of Seniors
- Minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women Act
Honourable Zach Churchill – Minister of Health and Wellness
When he won in 2010, he won over half the popular vote, defeating a former MLA John Deveau, a former 20-year mayor of the Town of Yarmouth Charles Crosby and two minor party leaders. He became the first Lebanese Canadian elected to the Nova Scotia legislature.
- Also responsible for:
- Minister Responsible for Office of Mental Health & Addictions
Honourable Geoff MacLellan – Minister of Infrastructure and Housing
First elected in June 2010 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017, MacLellan has served in several cabinet positions and is now tasked with establishing the new Department of Infrastructure and Housing. He is the only Cabinet Member to have announced he is not re-offering in the next election.
Honourable Lena Metlege Diab – Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, Minister of Immigration & Population Growth, Minister of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie
An example of the importance Premier Rankin has placed on population growth, Minister Metlege Diab will oversee the role immigration plays in the economy and within communities, as the Minister of the newly styled Department of Immigration and Population Growth. Minister Diab previously served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice (2013 – 2015) in addition to holding the Immigration portfolio under former Premier Stephen McNeil. Diab is the first Lebanese Canadian to hold a cabinet position in Nova Scotia.
- Also responsible for:
- Minister responsible for the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act
- Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Act (except Part II)
Honourable Keith Irving, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
A newly elected MLA, Irving vaults to a prominent role in Rankin’s Cabinet given the importance Rankin placed on the environment during his Leadership campaign.
- Also responsible for:
- Chair of Treasury and Policy Board
Other Cabinet Members
- Honourable Keith Colwell – Minister of Agriculture & Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Also the Minister responsible for the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission Act. In 2013, Colwell was honoured for his success in banning the burning of tires in Nova Scotia; he is a volunteer fireman and, prior to politics, owned and operated a manufacturing company.
- Honourable Tony Ince – Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, Minister of Communications Nova Scotia. Also the Minister responsible for the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives. Ince was first elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature in the 2013 provincial election when he defeated then-incumbent Premier Darrell Dexter.
- Honourable Lloyd Hines, Minister of Transportation and Active Transit. Also the Minister responsible for the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency (NS)and the Sydney Steel Corporation Act
- Honourable Patricia Arab, Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services. Also the Minister responsible for Part II of the Gaming Control Act and the Residential Tenancies Act. She was previously Minister of Internal Services and Minister of Communications under former Premier Stephen McNeil. When appointed to those roles in 2017, she became the youngest female cabinet minister in Nova Scotia history.
- Honourable Chuck Porter, Minister of Energy and Mines, Minister of Lands and Forestry. Elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature as a Progressive Conservative in 2006, in 2014 he left that caucus to sit as an independent before joining the Liberal caucus in 2016.
- Honourable Brendan Maguire, Minister of Municipal Affairs. Born in England, Maguire and his family immigrated to Halifax in 1979. He and his siblings were abandoned shortly after by their parents; Maguire grew up in foster care in the Halifax area and became a Canadian citizen in 2016.
- Honourable Ben Jessome, Minister of the Public Service Commission
