N.S. energy minister criticized for past song lyrics, faces calls for resignation

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia cabinet minister is facing criticism and calls to resign for lyrics he wrote before his time in politics that are being described as misogynistic, violent and harmful.

Provincial Energy Minister Marco MacLeod sang on a track called “George Jones” released under the artist name Meadowville, as first reported by Frank Magazine. The music has recently received widespread public attention. 

The song contains lyrics that include misogynistic terms for women and a reference to using cocaine, in a copy saved by The Canadian Press before it was removed from streaming services.

The rap song is nearly two minutes long with a series of expletives and sexual innuendoes over a high-energy electronic backtrack. 

Critics say the lyrics are hateful toward women and violent, and question if MacLeod should remain in the provincial cabinet and his Progressive Conservative party. 

One group that works with victims of domestic violence has called for his resignation.

For his part, MacLeod on Saturday posted a note to social media apologizing for the lyrics of two songs he says are hurtful to women, and said they have since been deleted.

“I apologize for my words from 13 years ago,” MacLeod wrote in a handwritten note he posted in a photo.

“I accept full responsibility for these lyrics and I am committed to doing everything I can as a community leader to bring about the change necessary to stop misogyny in all its forms.”

The Progressive Conservative caucus said in a statement Monday that MacLeod’s music has been available online since 2013 and that he has never made money from it. 

The PCs noted MacLeod’s apology and confirmed to The Canadian Press that he would remain a member of the governing caucus.

The party added MacLeod and his government colleagues have “never lost sight” of responding to intimate partner violence, which was declared a provincewide epidemic in 2024.

The leader of the Opposition New Democrats said hate targeted at women from a sitting minister is “not a small matter.”

Claudia Chender said MacLeod should explain if he still holds the values expressed in the song’s lyrics and what he’s doing to address the harm his words have caused. 

“We also call on this government to explain why this was missed in candidate vetting and what the repercussions will be for withholding this information,” Chender wrote in a post to social media. 

MacLeod entered public office for the first time when he won the Pictou West riding in a May 2024 provincial byelection. He retained his Nova Scotia House of Assembly seat in a general election later that year.

Jordan Croucher, a PC caucus spokesperson, said the music was not disclosed during the candidate vetting process before he first ran for the nomination and as a PC candidate.

Adsum House, a Halifax shelter that serves women and families, said it was “sickened” by MacLeod’s “violent and misogynistic” music and called for him to resign.

The organization said in a statement that MacLeod was well into adulthood when he recorded the songs. 

“Regardless of age, holding these beliefs and disseminating this type of content should disqualify an individual from public office,” the shelter said.

The shelter said “there is no room for the ‘boys will be boys’ idiom that has long perpetuated violence against women in this province.”

It also pointed out the Mass Casualty Commission’s finding that gender-based, intimate partner and family violence is an epidemic in Nova Scotia. 

That conclusion came after a 51-year-old gunman killed 22 people as he carried out a spree of shootings and arson attacks across rural Nova Scotia in April 2020.

Adsum said Nova Scotian women “continue to be abused and murdered by men, often their intimate partners, at alarming, epidemic-level rates.”

Becky Druhan, a Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership candidate, said misogyny does not reflect the province’s values and has no place in politics. 

She wrote on social media it was up to Premier Tim Houston to determine if MacLeod’s conduct “meets the standard he expects of a cabinet minister.”

A spokesperson for Houston did not respond to questions sent Monday.

“We don’t have to agree on whether song lyrics are violent, lead to violence, or are just offensive. But we can acknowledge that we expect a higher standard from our leaders,” Druhan said in a statement.

MacLeod did not respond to a request for comment Monday. 

It’s not the first time a Houston cabinet minister has made headlines for controversial comments about women. 

Former justice minister Brad Johns resigned in April 2024 after making comments downplaying the severity of domestic violence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2026. 

— By Eli Ridder in Fredericton