Former cabinet minister and Guysborough warden Lloyd Hines dead at 72

Lloyd Hines, a former Liberal cabinet minister and long-serving warden of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, died Monday at age 72.

Vernon Pitts, the current Guysborough warden who served as deputy warden under Hines for 12 years, said it was an honour to follow in his footsteps.

"You can look throughout the municipality and pretty well anything you looked at would have Lloyd's fingerprints on it," Pitts said.

"It doesn't matter if it's Chedabucto Lifestyle Complex, the high school, the food bank, sidewalks, the hospital, expansion, doctor recruitment — Lloyd's fingerprints are on everything."

Hines was born on June 19, 1951, in Neils Harbour, N.S., according to his obituary.

After graduating from St. Francis Xavier University, Hines married Patricia in 1976 and they settled in Guysborough.

He entered public life in 1982 as a school board trustee and was elected a councillor for the municipality in 1988. Hines served 25 years on the municipal council, 16 of which were as warden.

Elected MLA in 2013

His stint in provincial politics began in 2013 when he was elected as MLA for Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie.

In 2015, Hines was appointed as minister of natural resources under Premier Stephen McNeil.

He was re-elected in 2017 and served as transport minister but lost his seat to challenger Greg Morrow in the 2021 provincial election.

Nova Scotia Liberal leader Zach Churchill said he worked with Hines for close to a decade and found him to be a "straight shooter."

"He's a good rural guy that cared about our rural economy and our rural communities and he didn't apologize for that," Churchill said.

"He's left his mark on his community up in Guysborough County. He's left his mark on the province. And I know he's going to be really missed, but fondly remembered by so many people."

Churchill said as a cabinet minister, Hines was practical, stoic and wise. He said Hines was able to bring attention back to the things that were important.

In a news release, Premier Tim Houston expressed his condolences and described Hines as "a dedicated community leader, public servant and a distinguished Nova Scotian."

Hines is survived by his wife, four children and three grandchildren.

His funeral will take place on Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Guysborough.

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