One Of These Men Will Be Nova Scotia’s Next Premier: Here’s What They Have To Say
HALIFAX — The three men vying to be the next premier of Nova Scotia met today for their first formal debate.
Randy Delorey, Iain Rankin, and Labi Kousoulis all hope to replace outgoing Premier Stephen McNeil, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, with help from the Black Business Initiative, and hosted by chamber CEO Patrick Sullivan, the hour-long event brought the three men together to answer questions from the business community.
Although billed as a debate, the hour-long event was placid. At no time did any of the candidates directly address his rival, and all three men struggled to distinguish themselves from their counterparts.
Delorey, Rankin, and Kousoulis were all cabinet ministers who resigned to pursue leadership bids, all three were first elected in 2013, and with few exceptions, each took positions largely in line with and the current provincial Liberal party.
Lots Of Praise For McNeil
When asked how they were similar or different from Stephen McNeil all three candidates were quick to praise the outgoing premier. None appeared to make serious efforts to distinguish themselves from him.
Delorey said he’s proud of McNeil’s record and commitment to balanced budgets, while Kousoulis pointed out he and McNeil were both business owners before they entered politics and said that is what made McNeil a good premier.
Kousoulis did say his upbringing would give him a different perspective than the outgoing premier.
Kousoulis is the child of Greek immigrants and said growing up in the city and being immersed in different cultures gives him a better understanding of how new arrivals experience Nova Scotia and how best to support them.
Earlier this year, he also told the CBC he would do more to work with the province’s labour unions.
“My door is going to be open to union leaders,” he said. “I would sit down and talk to them.”
Rankin said he would “continue” the strong stands McNeil has taken during his time as premier but did acknowledge he was from a “different generation” than McNeil. He said that generational outlook gives him different priorities, but he did not specify what those priorities would be.
Keeping The Legislature In Session
The Liberal government faced criticism last week after McNeil said he effectively cancelled the fall sitting of the provincial legislature. The move means the government will have only sat for a total of 13 days in all of 2020.
Kousoulis appeared to defend McNeil’s decision. He acknowledged that the legislature only sat for a very short period all year, but suggested it was enough to accomplish what the government needed.
“We have to ask did we get the business we needed to put forward, done? And we did,” he said, adding that opposition parties also need to be held accountable for the legislature not sitting longer.
He said, should he be elected leader, he would “work as long as I have to in the legislature” to make sure the next budget passes, and changes he’s advocated for, such as business tax relief, will be included.
Delorey skirted the question, talking instead about how he answered more questions than his colleagues during question period when the legislature did sit.
Meanwhile, the closest any candidate came to outright criticizing McNeil was Rankin, who said he would have made different choices.
He said 2020 has been an “irregular year,” and commended McNeil on how he handled his response to Covid-19. However, he said he would have done things differently.
“I would certainly want to be in the legislature for a sitting right now if I was the leader,” he said, adding that there are priorities Nova Scotians want us to tackle and he wants to see “rigorous debate” on them.
Rent Control
Perhaps the biggest difference between the candidates’ positions was on rent control. McNeil has expressed doubt about the effectiveness of rent control and said flat out he will not consider laws that limit how much landlords can raise rents.
Both Kousoulis and Rankin are proposing some form of rent increase limits.
Kousouli’ plan is for a short-term rental cap lasting for four years, aided by laws that reduce “red tape” for developers.
“The current situation cannot continue forward,” he said.
“You can’t have a developer who has three to four years to get through the planning process. At that point, all of that taxes they paid are in your rent.”
Delorey has not yet formally released policy plans, saying instead he wants to engage Nova Scotians before he “[pushes] policy out the door.”
However, he did raise doubts about rent control.
He said rent control might make a difference in the short term, but that he has concerns about its possible “long-term” impacts.
He pointed to the province’s Assessment Cap Program, which was created to protect homeowners against sudden surges in property taxes but has since created serious issues in the city’s housing market.
“To actually address the fundamental problem and root cause of this issue, we have to build stock,” Delorey said.
Rankin, meanwhile, said he doesn’t believe legislators can wait to act.
“It’s unimaginable that during a global pandemic we’re seeing evictions and rent increases,” he said. “Nobody should be evicted during a pandemic.”
Rankin’s plan for dealing with the province’s burgeoning housing crisis is to create a rental housing policy that includes a cap on yearly rent increases and a construction tax credit that will reward developers for including affordable units in their projects.
Government Transparency
Sullivan also pressed the candidates on government transparency, something McNeil promised during his election campaign but has often been criticized for failing to adequately provide.
All three candidates said they believed transparency was important, with Rankin calling it a “fundamental tenet” of democracy and Kousoulis promising the government will be “as transparent as we can be.”
During his 2013 election campaign, McNeil made similar claims.
That year, McNeil also campaigned on promises of greater transparency, saying he would expand the powers and mandate of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Years later, in 2018, he called the promise a “mistake.” A few days after he made the statement, the public learned McNeil had blocked the privacy commissioner’s efforts to investigate a member of his government.
Toby Mendel of the Centre of Law and Democracy told Global News at the time McNeil’s claims to have created the “most open and transparent province in Canada” were baseless and “patently false.”
All three candidates were, at the time, members of McNeil’s Cabinet.
The Nova Scotia Liberal Party will choose its next leader on February 6.