Headwinds for Nova Scotia’s new premier

Nova Scotia's next premier has his work cut out for him.

The 37-year-old Iain Rankin, who won the Liberal leadership on Saturday, has barely a month to finalize what he predicts will be an “ambitious” legislative agenda, including a budget, before the legislature convenes with a throne speech in early March.

Rankin will be expected to continue his predecessor’s widely-praised handling of the COVID-19 crisis, while ensuring vaccinations rollout across his province this year as logically, and expeditiously, as possible.

Critically, he’s also got to rebuild this province’s virus-ravaged economy, while managing fallout from related massive, and growing, government debt.

In short, if Rankin hopes to keep his new premier’s title, the former Environment and Lands and Forestry minister has little more than a year — at most — to make his mark before having to lead his razor-thin majority government into an election.

It’s a tall order.

But Rankin already exceeded expectations, in at least some corners, by coming out on top for the party’s leadership over perceived front-runner Randy Delorey (who was dropped after the first round) and well-organized runner-up Labi Kousoulis on the weekend.

The premier-designate, who’s expected to be sworn in within a few weeks, campaigned as the candidate for generational change.

Most prominently, Rankin put green policies, and growing a green economy, at the centre of his platform, including taking an even more aggressive approach than Stephen McNeil on tackling climate change.

Rankin would like the province to be off coal entirely, while generating 80 per cent of power with renewable energy, by 2030. He hopes to make Nova Scotia the first province to be net carbonneutral.

To help rebuild the economy, he’s promised to put together an economic growth council with business leaders. As long as its makeup is representative of the province’s diverse business sector, that’s a sound idea.

Rankin has also vowed to confront systemic racism.

And he has promised to implement the Lahey report’s recommendations on forestry, including reducing the controversial use of clearcutting.

Observers will be closely watching what he does regarding the controversial proposal for a golf course at Owls Head.

We welcome Rankin’s promise to try to be inclusive and listen to ideas from all sides. Nova Scotians tired of unnecessarily divisive partisan politics will appreciate the premier-designate’s stated intention to sit down with opposition leaders to discuss possible areas of common interest.

At the same time, we hope the province’s first millennial premier will restore some of the democratic deficit that accrued under McNeil’s watch, including restoring proper oversight powers to legislative committees.

Meanwhile, Rankin won’t be operating in a vacuum. The opposition has already been rolling out pre-election ads, including during the Super Bowl.

All eyes will be on the young premier in 2021, which promises to be another tough year.

But Iain Rankin knew what he was signing up for.