Tory hopefuls shackled to House

Karla MacFarlane has moved past the firsts and is already on to the lasts.

The Pictou West MLA is the first woman to lead the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia’s long legislative history. This month, when she spoke on the government’s throne speech, she noted it’s the last time she’ll perform that task as her party’s leader.

MacFarlane’s time leading the Conservatives was always limited by the duration of the party’s leadership race, which culminates October 27. Whether she’ll immediately relinquish the opposition leader’s job too, depends on who wins.

If it’s one of her caucus colleagues, he or she also becomes opposition leader. If either of the two candidates from outside the legislature wins, MacFarlane could remain in the job until the party’s new leader gets a seat in the House.

The battle for the Tory leadership has turned acrimonious, but session — it usually begins nearer Thanksgiving than Labour Day — gave rise to speculation that Premier Stephen McNeil is trying to tilt the ground against the MLAs in the race, who are shackled by the legislature’s timetable, while the two candidates who don’t sit in the House can carry on campaigning unfettered.

It has even been suggested that the Liberals favour Cape Breton Regional Mayor Cecil Clarke as the Tory leader they want to face in the next provincial election, likely in 2021. Liberals naturally claim to have no preference. Julie Chaisson, who ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in Chester St. Margaret’s a year ago rounds out the leadership field.

The late summer start to the fall session likely has more to do with the premier’s travel plans than any designs on influencing the Conservative leadership. McNeil’s going to China in early November, and he wouldn’t leave his government unsupervised in the House, so he wants the legislative business done before he leaves.

MacFarlane’s strong performance as opposition leader has some in her party regretting that she stayed out of the leadership race. She briefly considered a bid but rejected it in favour of her family.

“I’ll go to my grave guilty for the sacrifices my family made so I could pursue a political career. Before I was elected (in 2013, reelected in 2017) I never missed a thing my kids were involved in. Now I miss too much.”

The flip side is that a seat in the legislature gives purpose to her passion.

She’s firmly rooted in the progressive wing of her party and believes government can be a positive force in people’s lives.

Last week, MacFarlane made a bill to ban conversion therapy the first the Tories introduced in the new session.

“The greatest freedom for anyone is to be their authentic self,” MacFarlane said in a recent interview.

She also believes the government has become unresponsive to people’s needs.

When Nova Scotians can’t get the help they deserve from the government, she said, the fault generally lies with an inflexible system.

This is a woman who sees how government works and knows it can be better.

The candidates for the party’s leadership are, for the most part, running as conservatives first, progressives second, if at all. MacFarlane reverses the order.

When she hands over the opposition leader’s seat to her successor, it will be moved to the right. How far, depends on who occupies it.