Zach Churchill resigned as Nova Scotia Liberal leader on Tuesday after leading his party to a resounding defeat in the Nov. 26 provincial election.
Churchill made the announcement at the Liberal caucus office in Halifax, saying he will immediately be replaced on an interim basis by Derek Mombourquette, while the other caucus member, Iain Rankin, will share leadership responsibilities while serving as parliamentary leader within of the party. legislature.
This announcement follows Monday’s recount in the Yarmouth district, which saw Churchill lose his seat to Progressive Conservative candidate Nick Hilton by a final total of 16 votes.
“I am certainly sorry that we have not been able to produce better results for our candidates and our members of the Legislature, but I am certainly encouraged as we pass the torch that we will continue to rebuild,” Churchill said .
The Liberals were reduced to just two seats, losing 12 of the 14 seats they held before the election campaign, which was Churchill’s first as party leader. Progressive Conservative Premier Tim Houston led his party to a second consecutive majority government, winning 43 of the legislature’s 55 seats, after the results of a recount Tuesday confirmed the Conservatives’ victory in the riding of Annapolis.
The New Democrats, led by Claudia Chender, were elevated to the official opposition with nine seats, and an independent candidate was re-elected.
Churchill pointed out that his party received 23 percent of the popular vote even though it won less than 4 percent of the total seats.
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“If I have one regret about the campaign and my political career, it is not having spoken more about my personal passion for proportional representation,” he said. “I think this election gives us a very clear example of the importance of reforming our electoral system. »
The 40-year-old former minister was elected Liberal leader in July 2022 and had held the riding in his hometown of Yarmouth since winning a by-election in 2010. He was re-elected in 2013, 2017 and 2021.
The party said the process to replace Churchill would be announced in the coming months.
Mombourquette said Churchill’s decision was a “difficult moment for the team”, but he added that the work of rebuilding the party would begin immediately.
“Iain and I will be out and engaging across the province with the candidates who ran in the last election and with their riding associations,” Mombourquette said. “There’s a lot of work to do there…we’ll also need to prepare and start looking at policy for when the House sessions resume.”
The legislature reconvened briefly Tuesday as newly elected members were sworn in and conservative Danielle Barkhouse was re-elected speaker.
The government also received consent from the Legislative Assembly to follow through on its promise to reduce the provincial portion of the harmonized sales tax by 1 per cent on April 1.
After the session, Houston told reporters he also supports the federal government’s so-called GST holiday, which would take effect for two months starting Saturday.
“We recognize the affordability challenges facing Nova Scotians and Canadians,” he said. “We have some details to work out with the federal government to really figure it out, but I think we certainly agree with the spirit of what they’re trying to do, and we’ll work with them on that.”
Houston campaigned against federal policies such as carbon pricing during the election, but after a meeting Monday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Halifax, the prime minister said they had “productive” discussions.
“There are things we just won’t agree on – I just don’t agree on the carbon tax – but there are things I think we can work together on” , he said, mentioning the province’s fisheries and the work needed to protect against flooding. the Chignecto Isthmus, which connects Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published December 10, 2024.
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