Stephen McNeil (born November 10, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who served as the 28th

premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of t ...

, from 2013 to 2021. He also represented the riding of

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

from 2003 to 2021 and was the leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party from 2007 to 2021.

Early life

McNeil was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 12th of 17 children. His mother, Theresa McNeil, was the first female high sheriff in Canada and is a recipient of the

Order of Nova Scotia The Order of Nova Scotia (french: Ordre de la Nouvelle-Écosse) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Instituted on August 2, 2001, when Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman granted Royal Assent to the Order of Nova ...

. McNeil attended the

Nova Scotia Community College Nova Scotia Community College, commonly referred to as NSCC, is a community college serving the province of Nova Scotia through a network of 14 campuses and three community learning centres. The college delivers over 130 programs in five acade ...

, and owned a small business for 15 years between 1988 and 2003.

Political career

McNeil first sought election in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

but was defeated. During that election McNeil indicated in a questionnaire provided by the campaign life coalition that he was pro-life. In 2013 a spokesperson for McNeil said his views had evolved since 1999 and he was no longer pro-life. He ran again in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

and was elected to the

. On January 30, 2007, McNeil announced he would run in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

to become leader of the Liberal Party. He was endorsed by

Leo Glavine Leo A. Glavine (born 1948) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Kings West in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003 until his retirement from politics in 2021. He is a member of the Liberals. Early life Gl ...

Harold Theriault Harold Elwood 'Junior' Theriault (born January 1953) is a former Canadian politician and member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, who represented the riding of Digby-Annapolis for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party from 2003 to 2013. Early life ...

Wayne Gaudet Wayne Jean Gaudet (born August 12, 1955) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Clare (electoral district), Clare in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1993 to 2013. He is a member of the Nova Scotia L ...

, Robert Thibault, Rodger Cuzner,

Jim Cowan James S. Cowan (born January 22, 1942) is a Canadian lawyer, a senator from Nova Scotia from 2005 to 2017, and was Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 2008 to 2015 and leader of the Independent Liberal caucus until June 15, 2016. A ...

Don Downe Donald Richard Downe (born 1951) is a farmer and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Lunenburg West in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1993 to 2003 as a Liberal member. Early life Downe was born in Charlottetown, Prin ...

and Dr. Jim Smith. On April 28, 2007 at the Liberal

Leadership Convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, McNeil was elected leader on the second ballot over runner-up

Diana Whalen Diana Caroline Whalen (born November 20, 1956) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Halifax Clayton Park in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003-2013, and Clayton Park West from 2013-2017, as a member of ...

. In the 2009 election, McNeil led the Liberals to

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

status, winning 11 seats. In the 2013 election, his party won a majority government, defeating the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

government of

Darrell Dexter Darrell Elvin Dexter (born 1957) is a Canadian lawyer, journalist and former naval officer who served as the 27th premier of Nova Scotia from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, he served as party leader from 2001 t ...

. In the 2017 election, his party retained a reduced majority of 27 seats in the legislature. On August 6, 2020, McNeil announced that he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party and as Premier of Nova Scotia in early 2021. He was succeeded by Rankin as Liberal leader on February 6, 2021 and as premier on February 23, 2021.

Premier of Nova Scotia

McNeil was sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia, along with his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia () is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as well as the other Commonweal ...

John James Grant John James "Jim" Grant (born January 17, 1936) is a Canadian politician and soldier who served as the 32nd Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Early life and education Born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Grant attended Mount Allison University, gr ...

on October 22, 2013 in

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the ne ...

. This was the first time since 1954 that the swearing in ceremony has been held outside the provincial capital of Halifax. McNeil is leading the first Liberal government in Nova Scotia in 14 years after a majority win to take 33 of Nova Scotia's 51 provincial seats; during much of that time the Nova Scotia Liberal Party held third party status in the legislature. The McNeil government faced difficulty in the first year of its government with two controversial stories about patronage and nepotism. Just days after being sworn in, Liberal candidate Glennie Langille was offered the job of Chief Protocol Officer. Critics said this was a return to days of political patronage and the job should have gone to the most qualified candidate in an open competition, while advocates said the Premier had done nothing against the rules. A government contract given to the premier's brother was also questioned. Critics had a problem with the fact that McNeil's brother's company was not officially registered with the Registry of Joint Stocks until the day after the tender closed, while advocates said being the premier's brother should not preclude him from receiving government contracts. Nova Scotia's Conflict of Interest Commissioner found no conflict with McNeil's brother's contract. The McNeil government's first session of the legislature lasted only 11 sitting days, the shortest fall sitting since fall sittings were made mandatory in 1994. The McNeil government was not required to hold a fall session of the legislature, as legislative sessions are not required for six months after an election. Campaign commitments by McNeil's Liberal government were met during the first session of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, passing three significant pieces of legislation during this session. The first was a law meant to open the electricity market to more producers. Critics said this law would neither reduce power rates, nor break Nova Scotia Power's monopoly, while advocates said it would soon allow for renewable electricity companies to sell directly to consumers. Another piece of notable legislation was for a statutory holiday in February. Critics said this would hurt the small business community, while advocates said it would help families spend more time together. Another commitment met included legislation to make economic investments more transparent and accountable. Another piece of notable legislation was the Liberal government's commitment to ban the importation of fracking wastewater from other jurisdictions. The McNeil government's first spring of the legislature saw three significant controversies. The Liberals passed essential services legislation that ended a strike by nurses in Halifax who were protesting working conditions. Opponents of Bill 37 said it took away the right to fair collective bargaining and would set back labour relations in the province, while the government said it was necessary to protect health care. Public sector workers from various unions protested the bill. The second controversial legislation was the Financial Measures Act, which eliminated the Graduate Retention Rebate – a tax rebate given to graduates who stayed in the province to work. The government said the program was not working and that student groups wanted it cut. The third controversy stemmed from the McNeil government's April 2015 budget. The budget provided for the elimination of the crown agency Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia, as well as an overhaul of the long-standing Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit. This move appeared to break a pre-election promise made by McNeil in October 2013, and resulted in an outpouring of protest from the creative community. Under political pressure, McNeil was forced to abandon the changes tabled in the budget. The Liberal government instead come up with a new incentive program for the film and television industry: the Nova Scotia Film Production Incentive Fund. The Liberals' first budget forecast a $279 million deficit, and included money to cap class sizes and recruit doctors. Two significant pieces of legislation were introduced. The government took the interest off Nova Scotia student loans for graduates who stay in Nova Scotia, and created a jobs fund called Invest Nova Scotia. McNeil announced on August 6, 2020, that he would be stepping down as Premier of Nova Scotia and leaving public office. In his announcement he confirmed he will remain as premier and leader of the Liberal Party until Iain Rankin is sworn in.

Electoral record

, - , Liberal , Stephen McNeil , align="right", 6,410 , align="right", 64.72 , align="right", -11.16 , - ,

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

, Colin Sproul , align="right", 1,517 , align="right", 15.31 , align="right", +7.1 , - , Progressive Conservative , Virginia Hurlock , align="right", 1,480 , align="right", 14.94 , align="right", +1.26 , - , - , - , Liberal , Stephen McNeil , align="right", 7,709 , align="right", 75.88 , align="right", +2.56 , - , Progressive Conservative , Virginia Hurlock , align="right", 1,390 , align="right", 13.68 , align="right", +2.63 , - ,

, Henry Spurr , align="right", 834 , align="right", 8.21 , align="right", -5.17 , - , - , Liberal , Stephen McNeil , align="right", 6,446 , align="right", 73.32 , align="right", +17.12 , - ,

, Henry Spurr , align="right", 1,176 , align="right", 13.38 , align="right", -3.37 , - , Progressive Conservative , Kent Robinson , align="right", 971 , align="right", 11.05 , align="right", -5.7 , - , - , Liberal , Stephen McNeil , align="right", 4668 , align="right", 56.20 , align="right", +5.37 , - , Progressive Conservative , Blair Hannam , align="right", 2041 , align="right", 24.57 , align="right", -6.85 , - , New Democratic Party , Malcolm John (Calum) MacKenzie , align="right", 1391 , align="right", 16.75 , align="right", +1.1 , - , - , Liberal , Stephen McNeil , align="right", 4522 , align="right", 50.83 , align="right", +12.01 , - , Progressive Conservative , Frank Chipman , align="right", 2795 , align="right", 31.42 , align="right", -15.61 , - , New Democratic Party , Adrian Nette , align="right", 1395 , align="right", 15.68 , align="right", -2.75 , - , Progressive Conservative , Frank Chipman , align="right", 4026 , align="right", 43.43 , align="right", +9.1 , - , Liberal , Stephen McNeil , align="right", 3265 , align="right", 35.22 , align="right", -1.8 , - , New Democratic Party , Tom Clahane , align="right", 1708 , align="right", 18.43 , align="right", -8.1

References

External links

Members of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly

Liberal caucus profile

Canadian Encyclopedia entry on Stephen McNeil
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Stephen Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs People from Annapolis County, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia political party leaders Living people 1964 births Premiers of Nova Scotia Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians