Labi Kousoulis

Labi Kousoulis is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2013 provincial election. A member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, he represents the electoral district of Halifax Citadel-Sable Island.[1]

The Honourable Labi Kousoulis MLA
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Halifax Citadel-Sable Island
Incumbent
Assumed office October 8, 2013
Preceded by	Leonard Preyra
Minister of the Public Service Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office October 22, 2013
Premier	Stephen McNeil
Preceded by	Marilyn More
Minister of Internal Services
Incumbent
Assumed office April 1, 2014
Premier	Stephen McNeil
Preceded by	Ministry Established
Personal details
Political party	Liberal
Website	Official website

Early life and education

Kousoulis was born and raised in Halifax, attending Sir Charles Tupper Elementary, Cornwallis Jr. high school, and Queen Elizabeth high school. He graduated from Saint Mary's University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and is a Certified Management Accountant.[2] He holds a Master in Business Administration from Saint Mary's University Sobey School of Business.

He worked as a Commercial Lender with Scotiabank, was an executive member of Wilsons Fuels, and as Controller at Trenton Works. Kousoulis has also started a number of small businesses.[3]

For three years, Kousoulis served as co-chair of the Halifax Greek Fest, the largest multicultural festival in Nova Scotia. He is a longtime soccer player and fan, and has been coaching teams in Halifax since 2012. Additionally, Kousoulis is a licensed ski instructor, and enjoys skiing in the winter.

Political career

On October 22, 2013, Kousoulis was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia where he served as Minister of the Public Service Commission,[4] as well as being appointed Minister of Information Management and Minister of the Voluntary Sector.[5] On April 1, 2014, he was appointed Minister of Internal Services, a new department including the responsibilities of the former Information Management portfolio, as well as various other support functions within government.[6][7]

Kousoulis was re-elected in the 2017 election.[8] On June 15, 2017, premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet, moving Kousoulis to Minister of Labour and Advanced Education.[9][10]

Electoral record

2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Batherson	1,480	25%
	Liberal	Labi Kousoulis	2,419	41%
	New Democratic	Glenn Walton	1,618	28%
	Green	Martin Willison	343	6%
Total valid votes				100.0

2013 Nova Scotia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Labi Kousoulis	2,966	47.66
	New Democratic Party	Leonard Preyra	1,934	31.08
	Progressive Conservative	Andrew Black	1,094	17.58
	Green	Brynn Horley	198	3.18
	Independent (Atlantica)	Frederic Boileau-Cadieux	31	0.50

References

1. "Nova Scotia votes: Riding-by-riding results for Halifax region" Archived 2014-02-28 at the Wayback Machine. Metro, October 8, 2013.
2. Eight Saint Mary's Alumni Headed to Province House Saint Mary's University
3. "About". Labi Kousoulis. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
4. "Premier Stephen McNeil welcomes 16-member cabinet". CBC. October 22, 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
5. http://labimla.ca/executive-council/
6. "N.S. government creates new department, reorganizes others". The News. March 7, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
7. https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20140307005
8. "Liberal Labi Kousoulis re-elected in Halifax Citadel-Sable Island". Global News. May 30, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
9. "Stephen McNeil shuffles cabinet, but vows not to change course". CBC News. June 15, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
10. "N.S. cabinet unveiled: Casey now deputy premier, finance minister". The Chronicle Herald. June 15, 2017. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-15.