HALIFAX—Nova Scotia’s Liberals named a youthful former cabinet minister and self−described agent of generational change to take the helm as they voted Saturday for Iain Rankin to become party leader and the province’s next premier. Rankin, 37, edged out two of his fellow former cabinet ministers in the three−man race to succeed Premier Stephen McNeil, whose retirement announcement last summer triggered the leadership contest that played out virtually due to the COVID−19 pandemic. Rankin, who once served as McNeil’s lands and forestry minister, garnered just over 52 percent of the vote after a second ballot. He defeated former labour minister Labi Kousoulis and Randy Delorey, who held the province’s health, finance, and environment portfolios under McNeil. Rankin, who ran on a platform of linking environmental and economic concerns, vowed during his acceptance speech to be a collaborative leader when he succeeds McNeil as premier on a yet unnamed date. He …