N.S. Premier Houston open to working with Carney, distances himself from Poilievre

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said he’s hopeful about the newly-elected Liberal government.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says he’s looking forward to working with newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney and suggested they see eye-to-eye on some key priorities, like free trade across Canada and developing critical resources and energy.

“I’m committed to free trade in Canada and committed to getting rid of the interprovincial trade barriers and so is the prime minister,” said Houston, during a press conference on Wednesday in Halifax.

“And I’m committed to developing our natural resources and producing energy here and changing our economy for the better and I believe the prime minister is committed to that too, he uses the term ‘nation building projects.’”

As for the election result, Houston said after four consecutive losses to the Liberals, it’s time for the federal Conservative Party to do some “soul searching.”

“I think there will be some lessons learned from this campaign,” said Houston. “I think the Conservative Party of Canada was good at pushing people away, and not so good at pulling people in and I think they probably saw some on that in the results from across the country.”

When asked if Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre should resign as leader, Houston declined to answer and said he’ll let the federal party determine that. However, he did reveal he and the Conservative leader weren’t on good terms.

“I don’t have a relationship with him,” said Houston of Poilievre. “Obviously during our campaign there was a situation, I think the Globe (and Mail) story was pretty accurate as to something that happened there that probably had ramifications on both sides.”

The Globe and Mail reported this week that there were tensions between the Houston and Poilievre campaigns and neither were on the same page. It appeared to stem from remarks Houston made during his provincial campaign run where he suggested he wouldn’t invite Poilievre to Nova Scotia to campaign with him.

Houston didn’t campaign with Poilievre when he made a campaign stop in Nova Scotia, nor did Houston attend the rally the Conservatives held in Trenton, N.S., just days before the election.

Instead, Houston released a video the same day promoting why he loved Nova Scotia, which promoted speculation he might want Poilievre’s job, but Houston shot that down that claim again.

“I’m focused on Nova Scotia,” said Houston. “And moving forward this province. There’s a lot we can do in this province and that’s my focus.”

Houston said he reached out to Carney to congratulate him after the election.

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