Nova Scotia Liberals, still coming to grips with the party’s worst-ever election result, don’t necessarily agree on what went wrong, but they do see eye to eye about what to do next: rebuild the party, starting now.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Kelly Regan suggested the party was caught off guard by the snap election call.
“I think the party could have been better prepared,” Regan told CBC Radio Information Morning host Portia Clark on Thursday, adding she did not feel Premier Tim Houston could be trusted to wait until the July 15, 2025, fixed election date set by his own government.
“I felt it very unlikely that he would stick to that, even though it was his first bill, and I was right,” she said.
Regan urged party members not to waste time “licking your wounds,” and instead to work on a way to build the party from the two ridings it still controls — Sydney-Membertou and Timberlea-Prospect.
But Iain Rankin, one of those two Liberals returning to Province House, blamed the loss on long-standing party disputes that date back to former Liberal premier Stephen McNeil’s time in office.
“I don’t think it’s a secret there are divisions within the party,” Rankin told CBC News. “There’s certainly groups of people that may have been upset by decisions made in a prior Liberal government.”
The party will need to engage and work with its members, he said, and “mend relationships with groups right across the province.”
Rankin said disagreements that have driven people away from the party or alienated supporters need to be put to rest.
“It’s time to rebuild the party,” said Rankin.
That work should have already been done, according to longtime Liberal Maura Ryan, a one-time candidate and part of a two-person team to review the 2021 election loss.
The report, co-authored with retired Liberal senator Jim Cowan, detailed how riding presidents felt “alienated, neglected and disrespected,” and “adrift from the party.”
The report, which included 19 recommendations, concluded “the party has certainly suffered more devastating defeats in the past and has been able to rebound and recover.”
Now that it has suffered its most devastating loss ever, Ryan suggested it was time to clean house.
“I think there might be some people [who] were kept maybe too long,” said Ryan. “When you have to build from the foundation, it’s a long process.
“You’re not just redoing a room, right? This is going to be a long, long process.”
Ryan suggested the party start by redoing the legwork she and Cowan did in 2021 — talking to those who took part in the 2024 campaign about what worked and what didn’t.
But she also said it was time to reflect on what it meant to be a Liberal in Nova Scotia.
“What do we stand for? What are our values as a party? Who are we?” said Ryan. “It’s not just about defeating Tim Houston. Who are we as Liberals?”
She said that conversation might re-energize former supporters and attract new people to the party.
