$50,000 The Price Of Admission To The N.S. Liberal Leadership Contest
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia Liberal Party has released the rules for its leadership contest to select the next premier.
Candidates must submit their nomination papers by Oct. 9. Those papers must include the signatures of 100 NSLP members, with at least one signature from each of 10 provincial districts.
A $50,000 nomination fee will be required, with $10,000 due when leadership papers are filed and with the full amount required by Nov. 20.
There has also been a significant change to how the leader will be chosen.
A release from NSLP says, previously, delegates were elected by local Liberal association members. Those delegates would vote at the leadership convention and choose a leader on behalf of the associations.
Under their newly announced rules, each member may apply, for a $20 fee, to become a delegate.
Delegates will vote electronically, on a preferential ballot, for which leader they prefer.
Each of the province’s electoral districts will then have 100 points allocated to a candidate based on the results of that ballot.
The candidate who has the most points becomes the next leader.
Voting begins on Feb. 1, 2021 and ends Feb. 6, 2021 with the party’s Leadership Convention, where the new leader, and premier, will be announced.
Premier Stephen McNeil announced in early August his plans to step down as the leader of the Liberal Party, and by extension as premier. He will remain premier until a new party leader is chosen in February.
McNeil was first elected as an MLA for Annapolis in 2003, and has headed two majority government for the Liberals after elections in in 2013 and 2017.
Jack Morse is a member of the news teams with 101.5 The Hawk, a Huddle content partner.