N.S. premier shuffles cabinet, appoints first Black woman

Premier Tim Houston shuffled his cabinet Thursday, appointing the first Black woman to cabinet in the history of the Nova Scotia Legislature and announcing he’ll be nominating a close political ally as the province’s first female speaker of the house.

Twila Grosse, fresh off a commanding byelection win in Preston, becomes the new minister responsible for the public service and minister responsible for African Nova Scotian Affairs. 

Kent Smith is the new minister of fisheries and aquaculture. He’s taking over for Steve Craig, who confirmed on Wednesday that he will not be seeking re-election.

Finance Minister Allan MacMaster adds the communities, culture, tourism and heritage portfolio to his duties, which already included finance and labour relations.

MacMaster’s new duties follow the announcement from Pat Dunn that he will also not be running again. Dunn was previously responsible for African Nova Scotian Affairs as well as communities, culture and tourism.

Meanwhile, Trevor Boudreaux is the new community services minister and minister responsible for L’Nu affairs. Those roles were previously held by Karla MacFarlane. 

Houston confirmed in a news release Thursday that he intends to nominate MacFarlane as Speaker of the House when the legislature resumes next month.