Jamie Baillie - Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia

People and the press often pay attention to what politicians say but little light is shed on what they do when they're not pandering to the media.

What makes a great political leader?

In his book Leadocracy Geoff Smart says “Democracy works best when voters choose great leaders.” It seems like a simple statement, but it explains a lot. We are not very good at it. We as people seem inclined to accept average or mediocre performance. Mediocrity can destroy us just as surely as perils far more famous.

Smart offers some framework for thinking about the kind of leaders we want to "hire" and what qualifications, attributes, skills and experience we might consider useful for the job. Top of the list is their capacity for effort. He hopes we can reverse our tendency to:

• place too much emphasis on likeability
• place too much emphasis on public-speaking ability and debates
• place too much emphasis on the single hot-button issue that has little to do with our overall quality of life and the real problems that plague our communities
• place too much emphasis on the physical attractiveness of the candidates
• and we tend to be lulled into following candidates who “feel our pain” and merely reflect their understanding of our problems, but who do not have the demonstrated ability to solve them.

I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of nice, smart, talented people.  Over the last year or so I've gotten to know Jamie Baillie through his work and long talks about Nova Scotia, people and prosperity. Jamie is as well-equipped and well-rounded as anyone could be to take on the job of Premier. He has succeeded in public life, private life, non-profits - and as part of one of the most successful provincial governments of the last 30 years (he was Premier John Hamm's Chief of Staff).

We've all seen Mr. Baillie display honesty, integrity, compassion, confidence and flexibility in all his dealings beyond the ballot box and beyond partisan politics. I genuinely believe he would prefer the improvement of Nova Scotia in the future over his own comfort or success.

He's fulfilled his roll as opposition leader well by seeking out support in the province, building a great team, and holding the government to account.
 
Practically speaking, Jamie Baillie has by far the most impressive resume of any party leader vying to lead this province.
 
In Nova Scotia, we are trying to promote the idea of Responsible, responsible government. As one of the Top 50 CEO’s in NS - for 5 years running, this is a pressure Mr. Baillie has been handed many times over. He's the kind of person who will be responsible.
 
With his dedication to the facts on issues like Pharmacare, the ferry, the film tax credit, sexual abuse support, and mental health initiatives, he is proving day in and day out that he does not fit into any sort of old-school party stereotype. He's a purposeful, prudent, prosperity minded, progressive conservative.
 
When we are looking to control the public purse, to get the best deal for Nova Scotia, to begin again with clear end goals in mind, in him we have someone who controlled the “private” purse for one of Atlantic Canada’s biggest companies - the Atlantic Credit Union.  In an atmosphere where, arguably there was a great deal more pressure to succeed than in government. His performance there in turning around an organization, managing dramatic change, and creating a sustainable strategy for the future, was nothing short of astonishing.
 
His charitable work - both with the United Way and Prescott Group - while running a bank and raising a family just shows the level of person we are working with.
 
During the film tax credit issue, a continuing debacle that simply would not have happened under different leadership, Jamie Baillie showed us he had the ability to listen, to learn, maybe even change his mind, and then served as a support - not only in front of the cameras, but behind the scenes with individual film workers when no one was looking, encouraging folks that (regardless of party politics), things would get better. He could have been anywhere, but he stood with us.

The future of Nova Scotia involves us identifying great leaders for government and empowering them to work. Our track record of late is terrible and in truth has never been that good. We need to think about the long game and rally against this mediocrity in our own thinking to get a great leader for the challenging and changing times ahead in Nova Scotia.