Nova Scotia Health Minister Leo Glavine announces retirement

Nova Scotia’s health minister announced Thursday he will not run again in the next provincial election after serving five terms in office.

Leo Glavine said nearly 18 years as the MLA for Kings West has been “a great honour.”

“It’s been wonderful to serve the people of Kings West, and I’m reminded that politics is the ultimate in the team game. You could never get here on your own. I’ve had a wonderful team to support me in Kings West,” Glavine told reporters during a post-cabinet media availability on Thursday.

Glavine said he will continue to work until the end of his term.

“I certainly plan to put my heart and soul into the next number of months,” he said.

Before entering politics, Glavine was teacher. He was first elected in 2003 when he beat incumbent Progressive Conservative Jon Carey by 116 votes. When the Nova Scotia Liberal Party formed government in 2013, he became minister of health and served in that role until 2017.

In his time as health minister, Glavine worked on the province’s health accords with the federal government and oversaw the integration of nine district health authorities into the Nova Scotia Health Authority. During his announcement, he said this integrated system has “really showed it’s enormous strength through COVID-19.”

In 2017, he moved from health minister to culture minister, but picked up the role again on Oct. 13 after former Health Minister Randy Delorey stepped down to run for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.

Both Glavine and Premier Stephen McNeil were elected for the first time in 2003. McNeil said he didn’t know Glavine well back then, but he’s grown to admire him after working together for over 17 years, and that he has always been a “gentleman.”

“He is a great role model for anyone who wants to be in an elected office,” McNeil said.

Nova Scotia’s next general election could come as early as April 2021, or as late as Spring 2022.