TRURO - Jamie Baillie wants to be leader of Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservatives.
If that happens he will become the first Truro native to lead a provincial political party full-time in a generation.
"He, I think, I know, will continue in that great tradition of Colchester County political leaders like Bob Stanfield and Ike Smith when he becomes the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and the next premier of Nova Scotia," Jamie Muir said Monday night.
Baillie grew up in Truro, attended Alice Street Elementary School, Truro Junior High School and Cobequid Educational Centre before leaving town to attend Dalhousie University.
After making his formal announcement, widely suspected for the past few months, in Dartmouth yesterday morning, Baillie came home.
"This is very important to me. This is my hometown. This is where it all started," Baillie said before entering the Marigold Cultural Centre, where about 100 people were waiting to greet him.
"The values that I hold as a Nova Scotian Conservative were formed here in Truro and this is where I wanted to go first."
Baillie, 44, said he joined the party when he was 18 and worked on Ron Giffin's election campaign. He was also heavily involved in the youth wing.
People who know him point to his community involvement, his knowledge of how government works – based on three years as premier John Hamm's chief of staff – and his ability to lead as reasons they're supporting him.
He has roots in rural Nova Scotia. His grandfather ran a meat market on Water Street in Pictou, and has called Halifax home for years. That mix can be invaluable in politics.
"I think there would be nobody better to unify the rural and the urban part of Nova Scotia," said Cumberland Colchester Musquodoboit Valley MP Scott Armstrong, who went to junior and senior high school with Baillie.
"You're not seeing a rural candidate, you're not seeing an urban candidate, you're seeing a Nova Scotian candidate."
Baillie has already visited 36 of the province's 52 ridings to speak with party people and Nova Scotians about the party.
"We need to rebuild the party," he said. "We need to form a team of people that will be the face of the PC party in the next election."
He said accountability and returning people's faith in politicians are keys for his campaign.
"People are at the top of the political pyramid and the politicians serve them," he said. "Too many people have concluded in the last year, it's the other way around."
He did not say specifically which riding he would run in.
A lot of people are speculating the announcement is more of a coronation as few other names remain out there as potential candidates.
Muir said anything can happen in politics, something that became evident the last leadership race the party had in 2006.
"The third person into the race was the person that became premier, Rodney MacDonald," he said.
For his part, Baillie welcomes other candidates but is focused on what he can control.
"I am going to run hard. We are going to sprint to the finish line at the convention, whether others join me in that sprint or not," he said.
jmalloy@trurodaily.com
