Lloyd Hines

Lloyd P. Hines 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 Guysborough–Eastern Shore–Tracadie.[2]

The Honourable Lloyd Hines MLA
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Guysborough–Eastern Shore–Tracadie
Incumbent
Assumed office October 8, 2013
Preceded by	Jim Boudreau[1]
Personal details
Political party	Liberal

Prior to his election to the legislature, Hines was a warden of Municipality of the District of Guysborough.[2]

On July 24, 2015, Hines was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Natural Resources.[3][4]

In April 2017, Nova Scotia's Office of the Ombudsman published a report that criticized senior officials of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, including former warden Hines, for their "indulgent" spending and "opportunistic" practices.[5] The report noted that Hines had used his corporate credit card for thousands of dollars in personal purchases and cash advances. Although Hines repaid all the charges, the Ombudsman found that he had benefited by essentially using cash advances from the municipality as short-term loans to cover expenses.[5][6]

The report also noted that there was insufficient documentation of the purpose of expensed meals, which were often above standard per diem rates and included alcohol, even when the only attendees were council members or administrators such as Hines. Hines defended the higher rates and the expensing of alcohol, telling the Ombudsman that the costs and alcohol were often standard when municipality officials hosted guests with more expensive tastes that they wanted to persuade to invest in the community.[5]

Hines was re-elected in the 2017 election, although his margin of victory of 71 votes was thin enough that the Progressive Conservatives sought a judicial recount, which confirmed the result.[7]

On June 15, 2017, premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet, moving Hines to Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.[8][9] In October 2017, Hines indicated his support for the renewal of Bay Ferries to continue operating "The Cat" ferry between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine, citing the ridership increases in the past year despite engine problems.[10][11]

Hines came under fire in February 2019 after a media scrum where he failed to disclose any information about the Yarmouth-Maine Ferry contract which he is responsible for.[12]

Electoral record

2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lloyd Hines	2,565	43.09	+3.10
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Wolf	2,494	41.90	+14.82
	New Democratic	Marney Simmons	893	15.00	-17.93
Total valid votes			5,952	100.0
Total rejected ballots			65	1.08
Turnout			6,017	59.05
Eligible voters			10,189

2013 Nova Scotia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Lloyd Hines	2,876	39.99	N/A
	New Democratic Party	Jim Boudreau	2,368	32.93	N/A
	Progressive Conservative	Neil Decoff	1,947	27.08	N/A

References

1. Guysborough-Sheet Harbour
2. "Tories take Pictou County ridings back from NDP". The Chronicle Herald, October 8, 2013.
3. "Andrew Younger sworn back in to cabinet after shuffle". CBC News. July 24, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
4. "Cabinet shuffle: Whalen out as finance minister, Younger back in". The Chronicle Herald. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
5. MacIvor, Angela; Allen, Susan (April 21, 2017). "Guysborough officials slammed for 'indulgent' expenses". CBC News. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
6. Final Report: Municipality of the District of Guysborough, Department of Municipal Affairs (PDF). Nova Scotia's Office of the Ombudsman. 2017.
7. "Judicial recounts confirm tight Liberal victories for 2 Nova Scotia seats". CBC News. June 9, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
8. "Stephen McNeil shuffles cabinet, but vows not to change course". CBC News. June 15, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
9. "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.
10. Gorman, Michael (October 25, 2017). "The Cat fast ferry will be back in 2018". CBC News. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
11. Gorman, Michael (November 6, 2017). "Yarmouth ferry operator pondering service to Bar Harbor, Maine". CBC News. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
12. "N.S. transport minister has few answers around Yarmouth ferry's move to new port". CTV News. February 14, 2019. Retrieved 2019-02-20.