Gary Burrill, centre, celebrates with supporters following his election as leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party during the party convention, in Dartmouth, N.S., on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Republished May 03, 2017 - 12:49 PM
Original Publication Date April 30, 2017 - 9:45 AM
HALIFAX - Name: Gary Burrill
Party: New Democratic Party
Age: 61
Hometown: Woodstock, N.B. (with family roots in Yarmouth, N.S.)
Job before politics: The social justice advocate and graduate of Queen's and Harvard was ordained as a United Church minister in 1992.
Leadership history: Elected leader in 2016 without a seat; he was an NDP backbencher for Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley from 2009 to 2013.
Notable moment: Beat out two sitting MLAs in the leadership race: Perceived frontrunner MLA Dave Wilson, a former cabinet minister, as well as MLA Lenore Zann.
Spotted in his office: A photo of J.B. McLachlan, a Cape Breton coalminer, union leader and labour advocate, and a photo of the home of Joseph Howe, provincial politician, newspaperman and public servant.
Quote: "We are in a new moment. The best way forward is investing in the real lives of real people."
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version referred to J.B. McLachlan as Jamie McLachlan.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017