Labi Kousoulis (born 1971) 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 was elected to 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 Each General Assembly of the ...

in the 2013 provincial election. A member of the

Nova Scotia Liberal Party The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Za ...

, he represented the electoral district of

Halifax Citadel-Sable Island Halifax Citadel-Sable Island is a provincial electoral district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Its current Member of the Legislative Assembly is Lisa Lachance of the Nova Scotia N ...

until his defeat in the

2021 Nova Scotia general election The 2021 Nova Scotia general election was held on August 17, 2021, to elect members to the 64th General Assembly of Nova Scotia. In April 2019, the Electoral Boundaries Commission released its final report entitled, ''Balancing Effective Represe ...

Early life and education

Kousoulis was born and raised in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, the son of John Kousoulis and Marina Michalakos, who emigrated from Laconia in Southern Greece though

Pier 21 Pier 21 was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly one million immigrants came to Canada through Pier 21, and it is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. The fac ...

. He graduated from Saint Mary's University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. He holds a Master in Business Administration from Saint Mary's University Sobey School of Business.

Before politics

He worked as a commercial lender with

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

, was an executive member of

Wilsons Fuel The Wilson Fuel Company Limited, often shortened to Wilson Fuel, is an independent petroleum wholesaler, distributor and retailer headquartered in Truro, Nova Scotia. In July 2021, Quebec based Couche-Tard announced a deal to purchase Wilson' ...

, and as controller at

Trenton Works TrentonWorks is an industrial manufacturing facility located in the town of Trenton, Nova Scotia, Canada. This collection of factories on the bank of the East River of Pictou has witnessed a large variety of industrial operations, ranging from s ...

. Kousoulis has also started a number of small businesses.

Political career

On October 22, 2013, Kousoulis was appointed to the

Executive Council of Nova Scotia The Executive Council of Nova Scotia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Nova Scotia) is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Almost always made up of members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the Cabinet is simi ...

where he served as Minister of the Public Service Commission, as well as being appointed Minister of Information Management and Minister of the Voluntary Sector. On April 1, 2014, he was appointed Minister of Internal Services, a new department including the responsibilities of the former Information Management portfolio, as well as various other support functions within government. Kousoulis was re-elected in the 2017 election. On June 15, 2017, premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet, moving Kousoulis to Minister of Labour and Advanced Education. Kousoulis has been a member of the Treasury and Policy Board since his appointment to the

in 2013. On February 23, 2021, Kousoulis was appointed as the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board, Minister of Inclusive Economic Growth (Formerly Business) and Minister of Trade.

Leadership campaign

On September 30, 2020, Kousoulis announced his candidacy for the Leader of the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia and to become the 29th Premier of the Province. Labi Kousoulis Campaign Launch

Electoral record

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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: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

Leonard Preyra Leonard Preyra (born February 10, 1955) is a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Halifax Citadel-Sable Island in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2006 to 2013. He was a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party. Caree ...

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Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

(

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kousoulis, Labi Living people Canadian people of Greek descent Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian politicians 1971 births