New Preston MLA Twila Grosse says housing ‘won’t be an overnight fix’
Newly elected Preston MLA Twila Grosse was celebrated at a PC caucus meeting in Halifax on Wednesday.
Grosse said she wants to see changes brought to the Preston area, citing collaboration as her focus.
“Preston is the riding I’ve lived in all my life,” she said. “I see so much potential for growth.”
The Preston riding has been represented by the Liberal party for 20 years, making Grosse’s win a significant flip for the riding.
Grosse added that she believes the housing situation in Nova Scotia will take time to fix.
“There isn’t an overnight fix,” Grosse said in an interview. “I always say the problem didn’t just happen; this has been ongoing for a while.”
Premier Tim Houston said that Grosse’s win reflected voters’ support for what the government has been doing around health care.
“I think the message that was sent from the people of Preston was that they know that they have a government that has been with them every step of the way through health care. A lot of discussion on health care, and people could see that the needle is moving on health care … I think that was reflected in the vote for sure. Good government matters for sure, and the people of Preston stood up and recognized that.”
He said residents “have an excellent MLA now. I’m so impressed by Twila. She is just a really, really impressive, wonderful person and she will be an excellent MLA. The interests of the constituents of Preston will be well-represented in the legislature.”
Asked whether there is an opportunity to have Grosse take over as the minister of African Nova Scotia Affairs from Pat Dunn – a white man – Houston said Dunn has done a good job, and in his own discussions with Grosse before the election she said her focus at that time was on winning the trust and support of voters in the riding.
“That was the only thing she wanted to focus on … she has now won the trust and support of the people of Preston, and we’ll have discussions about how she can contribute to our government.”
