MLA Becky Druhan and Deputy Warden for Richmond County Amanda Mombourquette are vying to be the first female leader of the Nova Scotia Liberals as the party tries to move forward from the 2024 provincial election. The party announced Druhan and Mombourquette as the official candidates for leadership on Friday. MLA Iain Rankin, who served as premier for six months in 2021 before the Liberals lost to the Progressive Conservatives, is currently serving as the interim leader of the party. The Liberals will elect their new leader on Nov. 21. Mombourquette is the current deputy warden for the Municipality of the County of Richmond and previously served as the warden for the region. She is the co-chair of the Bras d’Or Lakes Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiative and is a founding member of the Cape Breton South Recruiting for Health and the At Home Housing Association. “She knows that our party needs a leader to respond directly to what members across the province have been asking for: someone who will rebuild, with our membership at its centre,” Mombourquette’s campaign page says. “Using a grassroots approach, combined with her experience, our party will work together to create the best path forward for Nova Scotians, resulting in a Liberal government.” Druhan was elected to the provincial legislature for the Lunenburg West riding as part of the Progressive Conservatives in 2021, but last May she left the party and joined the Liberals, citing differences with the government’s leadership. While with the Progressive Conservatives, Druhan served as minister of justice. “Driven by the belief that true leadership means listening, building trust, and standing up for principles even when it’s difficult, Becky is running to unite the Nova Scotia Liberal Party and to build an open, compassionate, and hopeful movement ready to serve all Nova Scotians,” Druhan’s campaign page reads. The Liberals are currently the smallest party in the provincial legislature with only three seats (Druhan, Rankin and Derek Mombourquette). The Progressive Conservatives have 43 seats and the NDP have nine. In the 2024 election, under the leadership of Zach Churchill, the Liberals fell from 14 seats in the legislature to two. Churchill stepped down as Liberal leader after he lost his riding of Yarmouth in that election. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
