Bluenose Premier

On April 3, 2020, just over three weeks after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Nova Scotia’s premier, Stephen McNeil, uttered four unforgettable words: “Stay the blazes home!” That public plea, spoken in the company of the chief medical officer, Robert Strang, did more than attract national attention. It also turned the Liberal politician into a Maritime folk hero, quickly celebrated with homegrown memes, songs, lawn signs, beer cans, and T-shirts.

Threatened and unsettled by the virus, Nova Scotians responded enthusiastically to McNeil’s father-figure style of leadership. As illustrated in Len Wagg’s best-selling picture book Stay the Blazes Home, the populace took his words to heart, by sheltering in place, adhering to public health restrictions, and leaving downtown streets, provincial highways, and normally crowded public spaces eerily silent...