His Honour The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, received the Honourable Iain Rankin, Premier of Nova Scotia, at Government House on Wednesday, 18 August 2021.  During the meeting, Mr. Rankin notified His Honour of his intention to resign as Premier of Nova Scotia and His Honour accepted the resignation.

This morning ,His Honour formally received Mr. Tim Houston, Leader of the Progressive Conservatives. During the meeting, and in fulfillment of his most important duty to ensure that Nova Scotia always has a Premier, His Honour formally invited Mr. Houston to form Her Majesty’s Government if he could command the confidence of the Legislature and form a Government.  Following this assurance, Mr. Houston became the Premier-designate and will remain so until he is sworn-in by the Lieutenant Governor, along with a new Cabinet, which is expected in the next few weeks.

During the two meetings, His Honour discussed transition arrangements with Premier Rankin and Premier-designate Houston.  A swearing-in ceremony for the new Executive Council will be held in the coming weeks.

Following an election, the Premier and Cabinet of the outgoing government retain their authority to govern until the next Premier and Cabinet are sworn in by the Lieutenant Governor