N.S. Liberal hopefuls ready to rebuild during party’s leadership campaign

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s Liberals will elect their first woman leader this fall, and while the two challengers say that’s a good thing, they also say it’s more about picking the right person for the job.

Running for the leadership are Becky Druhan, who represents Lunenburg West in the legislature, and Amanda Mombourquette, a municipal councillor in Cape Breton’s Richmond County. They are both hoping to become the party’s first permanent leader since the Liberals dropped from 14 seats to just two in the 2024 election.

Mombourquette said the election of a woman leader would be a historic, barrier-breaking moment for the party, but it’s not her focus.

“The foremost thing on my mind is the rebuild of the party,” she said in an interview.

“In my opinion, I have one job to do here and it’s really to focus on rebuilding the party and, at the same time, (offer) strong opposition in the legislature.”

The NDP was the first party in Nova Scotia to have been led by a woman, with Alexa McDonough taking the position in 1980 before going on to lead the federal party. Claudia Chender is the current provincial leader.

The Progressive Conservatives installed Karen Casey as their interim leader, and the first woman to head the party, in 2009. She resigned the following year, just months before she crossed the floor to join the Liberals.

Druhan said she is grateful that a woman is in position to be the party’s next leader, but she said Nova Scotians need the person who is best for the job.

“Make no mistake, the key here is that we need the person who is best equipped, who has the experience, who has the skills, who has demonstrated themselves to be equipped not only to lead the party, but also to be prepared to govern,” she said in an interview.

Former Liberal premier Stephen McNeil led the Liberals to back-to-back majority governments before stepping down in 2021. Under his successor, Iain Rankin, the party dropped 10 seats to 17 as Progressive Conservative Premier Tim Houston won a majority government. Houston increased his majority in 2024 with the Liberals losing their role as official opposition, finishing the campaign with just two seats.

Druhan, a lawyer and former Houston cabinet minister, left the Tories last year citing differences with the government’s leadership. She sat as an independent before joining the Liberals in May. She ran on a platform of improving health care and supporting the environment when first elected in 2021 and she said her values have always been aligned with the Liberal team, which has given her a warm welcome.

“My values haven’t changed,” she said. “I walked away from the role that I had (in Houston’s government) because I’m willing to stand up for what’s right, even at a personal cost to myself. And I know that my community and members of the Liberal party recognize that.”

Druhan said she plans to build a party that will form an open and fair government focused on strengthening communities and supporting sustainable growth. She said the party needs to welcome people in, listen and rebuild trust while creating policies to reflect the needs of Nova Scotian communities.

Mombourquette said public confidence in the Richmond County government was at an all-time low when she was elected with a new slate of councillors in 2020. The previous council was the subject of an ombudsman’s report and forensic audit that found questionable expense claims by some politicians and senior staff. Mombourquette, the council’s former warden and current deputy warden, said the county has since turned a corner and earned back public trust.

She also pointed to her time as executive director of the local chamber of commerce, which she said was in a state of crisis when she took over in 2015. She said she helped strengthen the chamber financially, by listening to businesses and helping to develop a common vision with them.

“The reality is that I’m the only candidate who has the experience of having led a government successfully through … challenging times,” she said. “I think that’s exactly the type of experience and leadership that is needed to rebuild our party and restore public confidence in our government.”

Mombourquette said health care, housing affordability, education and economic development are all top of mind as she and her team work on a platform they plan to release in the next few weeks.

The Liberal leadership convention will be held Nov. 21, 2026.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2026.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press