The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia, more commonly known as the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, is a political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically associated with the Red Tory faction of Canadian conservatism. The party is currently led by Pictou East MLA Tim Houston. The party won a majority government in the 2021 provincial election. He called a snap election in 2024, increasing his party's majority mandate. The Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia and the Conservative Party of Canada are two separate entities.
History The Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia, registered under the Nova Scotia Elections Act as the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, originated from the Confederation Party of Charles Tupper. Tupper united members of the pre-Confederation Conservative Party (who were predominantly United Empire Loyalists and members of the business elite) and supporters of Sir John A. Macdonald's national Conservative coalition. The party supported Macdonald's protectionist National Policy, nation-building, and the unification of British North America.
Canadian Confederation was initially unpopular in Nova Scotia, and the party was out of government for most of the late 19th century. It formed government for only six years between 1867 and 1956. It bottomed out in 1945, when the party was shut out of the legislature altogether.
The modern party was built by Robert Stanfield after World War II. Stanfield, the scion of a wealthy textile family, had considered himself socialist in university; though he later moderated his views, he always remained a progressive. Under his leadership, what was by then the "Progressive Conservative Party" became a moderate Red Tory organization. He was able to get the party back into the House of Assembly soon after taking the leadership. By 1956, he had built it into an organization that was able to sweep to power, winning re-election four times.
As premier, he led reforms in human rights, education, municipal government and health care and also created Industrial Estates Limited, a crown corporation that successfully attracted investment from world companies such as Michelin Tire. He worked to modernized the road system, brought in the first form of Medicare, established the first economic development agency, invested heavily in education at all levels and established the predecessor to the Nova Scotia Community College.
After Stanfield left provincial politics to become leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party in 1967, G. I. Smith served as premier until 1970. After being elected party leader in 1971, John Buchanan was elected premier in 1978. He was re-elected in 1981, 1984 and 1988. In the 1984 election, voters served his largest majority, capturing 42 of the 52 seats in the legislature. Buchanan's government first succeeded in convincing federal government to give Nova Scotia control over offshore resources such as gas and oil, resulting in future revenue for the province through the Crown Share.
Roger Bacon became premier in 1990 after Buchanan was appointed to the Senate of Canada and until the party selected Donald W. Cameron as party leader and premier. During his term, Cameron reformed government finance practices, promoted anti-discrimination measures, introduced new government accountability measures and established the first non-partisan electoral boundaries revision commission in 1992.
Recent history After six years of Liberal governments led by John Savage and later Russel MacLellan, PC leader John Hamm was elected premier in 1999. After taking office, he invested more in education and health care, implemented some tax cuts and sold or closed government-owned industries such as Sydney Steel. His government also passed tough lobbyist registration legislation, introduced smoking cessation initiatives, provided new funding for community college modernization and achieved historically high economic growth and employment numbers. His government was the first to balance provincial finances in 25 years in 2002. Hamm retired as Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the PC party in 2006.Rodney MacDonald was elected to replace Hamm as party leader in 2006 and subsequently became Premier of Nova Scotia. Through strategic investments in rural broadband infrastructure, MacDonald continued to expand high-speed internet access throughout the province. MacDonald's government moved to help stabilize energy costs, grow the economy and attract new investment to the province.
The 2006 election resulted in a reduced minority for MacDonald and the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to third-party status in the 2009 election. On June 24, 2009, MacDonald stepped down as leader and Karen Casey was named the interim leader.
Jamie Baillie became leader of the PC Party on October 30, 2010 after running unopposed."New N.S. PC leader promises fiscal restraint". CBC News, October 30, 2010. He led the party into the 2013 election, and won eleven seats allowing the PC party form the Official Opposition. In the 2017 election, the party retained official opposition status, and increased their seat count to 17.
On November 1, 2017, Baillie announced he was stepping down as leader. Baillie was to remain in the position until a new leader was chosen, however on January 24, 2018, he resigned after the party executive requested his immediate resignation due to "allegations of inappropriate behaviour". Following his resignation, Pictou West MLA Karla MacFarlane was named interim leader.
In 2018, Tim Houston was elected the leader of the PC party after getting a large plurality of the points in the first round.
In the 2021 Nova Scotia general election, Tim Houston fought the campaign on a pledge to spend more to fix healthcare. The Progressive Conservative party won a majority government for the first time since 1999 and formed government for the first time since 2006.
According to the PC Party website, their mission is "to form a fiscally responsible, socially progressive government that promotes individual achievement and personal responsibility, is accountable to its citizens, listens to its people, embraces innovation, preserves the best of our unique heritage and diverse cultures and learns from the past".
Current elected members
Name Riding Year elected Tim Houston Pictou East 2013 Barbara Adams Eastern Passage 2017 Scott Armstrong Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley 2024 Jill Balser Digby-Annapolis 2021 Danielle Barkhouse Chester-St. Margaret's 2021 Trevor Boudreau Richmond 2021 Claude Bourgeois Chéticamp-Margarees-Pleasant Bay 2026 David Bowlby Annapolis 2024 Rick Burns Hammonds Plains-Lucasville 2024 Brian Comer Cape Breton East 2019 Susan Corkum-Greek Lunenburg 2021 Adegoke Fadare Clayton Park West 2024 Twila Grosse Preston 2023 Tim Halman Dartmouth East 2017 Nick Hilton Yarmouth 2024 Brad Johns Sackville-Uniacke 2017 Colton LeBlanc Argyle 2019 John Lohr Kings North 2013 John A. MacDonald Hants East 2021 Danny MacGillivray Pictou Centre 2024 Marco MacLeod Pictou West 2024 Kyle MacQuarrie Inverness 2024 Brendan Maguire Halifax Atlantic 2013 Leah Martin Cole Harbour 2024 Kim Masland Queens 2017 Brad McGowan Cole Harbour-Dartmouth 2024 Greg Morrow Guysborough-Tracadie 2021 Tim Outhit Bedford Basin 2024 Chris Palmer Kings West 2021 Dave Ritcey Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River 2020 Ryan Robicheau Clare 2024 Tory Rushton Cumberland South 2018 Melissa Sheehy-Richard Hants West 2021 Damian Stoilov Bedford South 2024 Kent Smith Eastern Shore 2021 Tom Taggart Colchester North 2021 Michelle Thompson Antigonish 2021 Fred Tilley Northside-Westmount 2021 Dianne Timmins Victoria-The Lakes 2024 Julie Vanexan Kings South 2024 John White Glace Bay-Dominion 2021 Brian Wong Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank 2021 Nolan Young Shelburne 2021
Party leaders
James William Johnston (1843–1864) Charles Tupper (1864–1867) Hiram Blanchard (1867–1874) Simon Hugh Holmes (1874–1882) John Sparrow David Thompson (1882) Adam Carr Bell (1882–1887) William McKay (1887–1890) Charles Cahan (1890–1894) William McKay (1894–1897) John Fitzwilliam Stairs (1897–1904) Charles Wilcox (1898–1901) (house leader) Charles E. Tanner (1901–1908) (house leader) Charles Wilcox (1908–1909) (house leader) John M. Baillie (1909–1912) (house leader) Charles E. Tanner (1912–1922) W.L. Hall (1922–1925) Edgar Nelson Rhodes (1925–1930) Gordon Sidney Harrington (1930–1937) Percy C. Black (1937–1940) Leonard William Fraser (1940–1948) Fred M. Blois (1940–1945) (house leader) Robert Stanfield (1948–1967) G.I. Smith (1967–1971) John Buchanan (1971–1990) Roger Stuart Bacon (1990–1991) (interim) Donald W. Cameron (1991–1993) Terry Donahoe (1993–1995) (interim) John Hamm (1995–2006) Rodney MacDonald (2006–2009) Karen Casey (2009–2010) (interim) Jamie Baillie (2010–2018) Karla MacFarlane (2018) (interim) Tim Houston (2018–present)
Bold indicates Party leaders who served as Premier of the colony or province of Nova Scotia.
Electoral performance Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Status 1867Hiram Blanchard 38.5 0 2nd 1871 43.7 12 2nd 1874Simon Hugh Holmes 43.6 2 2nd 1878 51.7 20 1st 1882 John Sparrow David Thompson 46.9 18 2nd 1886 Adam Carr Bell 28.6 4 2nd 1890William MacKay 46.7 1 2nd 1894 47.3 4 2nd 1897 44.4 10 2nd 1901 Charles Smith Wilcox 41.7 1 2nd 1906 Charles Elliott Tanner 42.1 2 2nd 1911 John M. Baillie 45.4 8 2nd 1916 Charles Elliott Tanner 48.8 0 2nd 1920 William Lorimer Hall 24.7 9 4th 1925Edgar Nelson Rhodes 60.9 37 1st 1928 51.7 16 1st 1933Gordon Sidney Harrington 45.9 16 2nd 1937 46.0 3 2nd 1941Frederick Murray Blois 40.3 0 2nd 1945 33.5 5 3rd 1949 Robert Stanfield 39.2 8 2nd 1953 43.6 5 2nd 1956 162,678 48.6 11 1st 1960 168,023 48.3 3 1st 1963 191,128 56.2 12 1st 1967 180,498 52.8 1 1st 1970 George Isaac Smith 177,986 46.9 19 2nd 1974John Buchanan 166,388 38.6 9 2nd 1978 203,500 45.8 19 1st 1981 200,228 45.8 6 1st 1984 209,298 50.6 5 1st 1988 204,150 43.4 14 1st 1993 Donald William Cameron 151,383 31.1 19 2nd 1998John Hamm 133,540 29.75 5 3rd 1999 169,383 39.20 16 1st 2003 148,182 36.32 5 1st 2006Rodney MacDonald 160,119 39.57 2 1st 2009 101,203 24.54 13 3rd 2013Jamie Baillie 109,452 26.31 1 2nd 2017 142,672 35.73 6 2nd 2021Tim Houston 162,473 38.44 14 1st 2024 187,430 52.83 12 1st
See also
List of premiers of Nova Scotia List of political parties in Canada Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia leadership elections
References