Chasing delegates goes virtual as N.S. Liberal leadership hopefuls seek support

Labi Kousoulis knew from the moment he decided to seek the Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership that this wouldn't be an ordinary campaign.

The race to replace Premier Stephen McNeil is a short one — lasting just four months. It came with little notice, coincides with the holiday season, and is set against a pandemic that's been ongoing since March.

It's that last point, which has forced Kousoulis and fellow candidates Randy Delorey and Iain Rankin to move to fully virtual campaigns, that has thrown the biggest wrinkle into things.

"Even before these recent [public health] restrictions, a lot of people weren't comfortable coming to any kind of meetings or even having a meeting," said Kousoulis, the MLA for Halifax Citadel-Sable Island.

"COVID has definitely been a factor from Day 1 in terms of all of us being able to operate."

Different expectations

Leadership campaigns are often a time for political parties to grow their ranks.

The Progressive Conservative leadership convention in 2018 saw 8,867 people cast ballots to select a new leader. The Liberals are unlikely to see such participation during a pandemic and a convention that will be largely virtual. 

But officials with the party say they're pleased with the way the process is unfolding.

"There's no question that the pandemic and its effect on the daily lives of Nova Scotians is the single largest factor influencing this leadership," Micah Richardson, the party's director of communications, said in an email.

"The party made the decision to have a shorter leadership period acknowledging that the next premier must take us through the next stages of vaccination and economic recovery ... this hasn't been an ordinary year, and this isn't an ordinary leadership race."

Interest beginning to build

Without the ability to travel the province and connect with people in person, Zoom calls and Facebook live events have become the order of the day for the three candidates, along with telephone town halls to connect with people who might not use or have access to virtual services.

Even with the unusual situation, Rankin, the MLA for Timberlea-Prospect, said his campaign is able to work its contact lists to identify support, sign up new party members and get existing members to register as delegates.

"It's been really positive, frankly, across the whole province, the response we're getting," he said. "For every new initiative we come out with, every day we seem to be gaining traction."

Kirby McVicar, one of Delorey's campaign co-managers, said he was worried in the early weeks of the campaign about the ability to build interest while people are chiefly focused on the public health situation.

But in recent weeks, McVicar has been buoyed by the growing interest and fundraising efforts for the Antigonish MLA.

"It seems to have really started to pick up," he said.

Donation details

While the lack of travel has cut down on some campaign costs, representatives for all three campaigns said expenses remain a consideration and fundraising continues to be important.

Rankin's campaign has pledged to make donor information available from 2020 in early January.

The Delorey campaign released a list to CBC showing it had 103 donors as of Dec. 4, although it did not include the amount of money raised. The campaign has said it would provide monthly updates.

Kousoulis's campaign has yet to decide how it will handle donation disclosure, although all campaign donations are subject to Elections Nova Scotia rules.

Deadlines coming up

With registration deadlines approaching for delegates, time is of the essence for campaigns to build support ahead of Feb. 6. New members have until Jan. 7 to join the party and become delegates, while existing members have until Jan. 12 to register as delegates. 

Like the other campaigns, Kousoulis said he's working new and old contacts every day.

"You just make phone calls, make connections, talk to people, find out what's important to them," he said. "It's a lot like a general campaign except there's a lot more people and the issues are a lot more widespread."

The candidates are scheduled to have their next virtual debate on Thursday.