Four days after Nova Scotia’s premier revealed he was convicted of drunk driving as a young man, Iain Rankin faced more questions Thursday about his record and whether members of his caucus had faced similar allegations.
With speculation intensifying about an imminent election call, the Liberal premier again apologized for his actions and insisted he has become a different person, having learned important lessons about the “dire impact of selfish decisions.”
The news came out on Monday when Rankin publicly announced during a COVID-19 briefing that in 2003, he had been convicted of drinking and driving.
“Two years later I was charged with the same offence but was found to be innocent,” he said at the start of a COVID-19 briefing with reporters.
But it’s that use of the word “innocent” that has some questioning if the premier is truly taking responsibility for his past actions.
“The word innocent is a little bit awkward in light of what actually happened during the second incident,” said Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University.
“It does come across as an attempt to skate it by.”
Since Monday, the Premier has been asked multiple times about that second incident specifically.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked, “Were you drunk on the morning of July 25, 2005 when you rolled your car into a ditch?” The Premier again apologized but did not answer directly.
“In 2005, I had something that was dismissed in court,” he said.
On Thursday, another report asked the premier if he failed a breathalyzer test the morning of that second incident in 2005.
“So again, I’ve laid out the facts” said Rankin. “But I’m moving forward as I have over the last 18 years.”
NDP Leader Gary Burrill said that Rankin should have been forthcoming about the charges from the get-go.
“I’m not in the judgement business and I don’t think we’re ever looking for people in leadership who are perfect,” said Burrill.
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“But I do think that people have a right when they look to people in leadership to see the taking of responsibility in a complete way and to see an honesty and forthrightness in how things are dealt with and I think that Iain Rankin has not met that standard.”
Court documents reveal details
According to court documents, a witness in 2005 said they saw a white Subaru swerve while taking a turn on Kearney Lake Road, then flip over and land in a ditch.
The witness testified the man who came out of the vehicle appeared “groggy” and that his breath smelled of alcohol.
A police officer who attended the scene also testified the man smelled of alcohol and noted that he had a bar stamp on his hand.
Rankin was arrested for impaired driving and was given two breathalyzer tests at the police station on Gottingen Street.
The first read 0.115 while the second read 0.15 — nearly double the legal limit of 0.08.
During the court proceedings, the Crown failed to produce the original test results, only supplying the court with photocopies, which were dismissed as evidence. The judge then found Rankin not guilty of driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit, but guilty of impaired driving.
Rankin was sentenced to two weeks of jail time but the court ruling was appealed and ultimately the appeals court dismissed the impaired charge.
“Rehashing some of those facts is not going to change anything,” Rankin told reporters on Thursday.
“I wish I could go back in time, but what I think is important is what I’ve learned and I’m a different person today than I was in my 20s and I’m moving forward. I got into public life because I want to help people and I’ll continue to do my best to help the people of Nova Scotia.”
READ MORE: Nova Scotia premier responds to new questions about drunk driving charge in 2005
When asked if other members of his caucus had criminal records, the 38-year-old premier said he was not aware if that was the case.
He also said he would consider publicly disclosing a list of candidates and caucus members with criminal records – as the parties in Saskatchewan did last year – but he did not make a firm commitment.
As well, Rankin said that he still enjoys drinking “a beer or two (and) going out to a pub,” but he stressed that he doesn’t abuse alcohol – though he admitted he drank too much when he was in his early 20s.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative party issued a statement Thursday saying the party “has no nominated candidates or caucus members convicted of a criminal offence.”
“Publicly releasing caucus or candidate criminal records is not something we have discussed, but can look into,” said the statement, attributed to election campaign co-chairs Tara Miller and Cameron MacKeen.
The statement also accuses Rankin of misleading Nova Scotians.
“We are sympathetic to anyone who tries to turn their life around after making a mistake as an adult, and we believe in second chances,” the statement says. “However, the premier misled Nova Scotians regarding his second arrest for a DUI and downplayed the severity of it. It speaks to poor judgment and weak leadership.”
The province’s New Democrats issued a statement from provincial secretary Jamie Masse, saying NDP candidates have disclosed criminal convictions ahead of an election in the past.
“We will discuss a more formal release of this information with our candidates over the next few days,” Masse said.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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