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The Liberal Party of Nova Scotia is a political party in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The party is descended from the pre-Confederation Reformers in Nova Scotia who coalesced around Joseph Howe demanding the institution of responsible government. The Liberal (Reformers) formed several governments in the colony between 1848 and 1867.
The party split during the debate on Confederation, with Howe and most other Liberals forming an Anti-Confederation Party, while supporters of confederation joined Tory Charles Tupper's Confederation Party. Howe, himself, initially opposed Confederation, but accepted it as a reality after initial attempts to scuttle it failed.
In 1868, Howe joined the pro-Confederation forces, serving for a time in the federal Cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald.
The Anti-Confederation Party took most of Nova Scotia's seats in the House of Commons in 1867, as well as forming the government of the new province under William Annand. The new, post-1867 Liberal Party was organised by Annand and his anti-Confederate forces, while the Conservative Party was organised by Tupper and supporters of Sir John A Macdonald's coalition in the province.
The Liberals went on to dominate provincial politics until 1956, being in power for all but 12 years over almost nine decades. More recently they habe been eclipsed by the Tories who, since Robert Stanfield rebuilt the Progressive Conservatives, have formed most of the governments in the province over the past 50 years.
The Nova Scotia Liberals are the provincial section of the federal Liberal Party of Canada. The two parties have a shared membership, and Liberal MPs often become Liberal MLAs and vice versa. Gerald Regan, for instance, became leader of the provincial party after serving as a Liberal MP. He joined the federal Liberal government after serving as Premier of Nova Scotia. Angus L. Macdonald, the province's most storied Liberal premier, split his term into two by spending five years as a federal Liberal cabinet minister in the wartime government of William Lyon Mackenzie King.
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