2013 Nova Scotia General Election

The 2013 Nova Scotia general election was held on October 8, 2013, to elect members to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

The result of the election was a Liberal victory under the leadership of Stephen McNeil, with the party winning its first election since 1998. The Progressive Conservatives, under the leadership of Jamie Baillie, improved on their 2009 results and formed the Official Opposition, despite winning fewer votes than the New Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP, which had won power for the first time in 2009 under the leadership of Darrell Dexter was reduced to third place and became only the second one-term government in the province's history, and the first since 1882. Dexter himself was defeated in Cole Harbour-Portland Valley by Liberal candidate Tony Ince.

Timeline

* June 24, 2009 – The New Democratic Party under Darrell Dexter win 31 out of 52 seats. The Progressive Conservatives are reduced to 10 seats and Rodney MacDonald announces that he will step down as leader. Karen Casey is named as interim leader.
* September 4, 2009 – Antigonish MLA Angus MacIsaac resigns his seat, citing family reasons.
* September 10, 2009 – Former Premier Rodney MacDonald resigns his Inverness seat in the legislature.
* October 20, 2009 – By-elections are held in Inverness and Antigonish. PC candidate Allan MacMaster and NDP candidate Maurice Smith are elected, respectively.
* February 9, 2010 – Richard Hurlburt resigns from the legislature following revelations that he had spent his constituency allowance on a generator and a 40" television, which together cost over $11,000.
* March 11, 2010 – Dave Wilson resigns from the legislature and is later charged and pleaded guilty.
* March 25, 2010 – Trevor Zinck is suspended from the NDP caucus over problems with his constituency expenses.
* June 22, 2010 – Two byelections are held to replace Hurlburt and Wilson in Yarmouth and Glace Bay, respectively. Zach Churchill is elected in Yarmouth and Geoff MacLellan is elected in Glace Bay.
* August 16, 2010 – Karen Casey announces her resignation as interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
* August 18, 2010 – Jamie Baillie is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
* October 26, 2010 – Jamie Baillie wins a byelection and represents the constituency of Cumberland South.
* January 10, 2011 – PC MLA Karen Casey crosses the floor to join the Liberal caucus.
* February 14, 2011 – Trevor Zinck is announced as one of four people facing criminal charges in connection with the RCMP investigation into 2010s MLA expense scandal. Zinck is charged with fraud exceeding $5,000, breach of trust by a public officer, and 2 counts of theft over $5,000.
* March 25, 2011 – Cape Breton North PC MLA Cecil Clarke resigns his seat to run in the 2011 federal election.
* June 21, 2011 – PC candidate Eddie Orrell wins the by-election in Cape Breton North.
* April 19, 2012 – Former MLA Dave Wilson is sentenced to 9 months in jail and to a period of 18 months probation for his role in the expenses scandal.
* June 5, 2012 – The Atlantica Party is deregistered by Elections Nova Scotia.
* July 27, 2012 – Former MLA Richard Hurlburt is sentenced to 12 months of house arrest, followed by 12 months of probation for his role in the expenses scandal.
* May 29, 2013 – Manning MacDonald resigns his seat in the legislature as MLA for Cape Breton South.
* June 19, 2013 – Trevor Zinck resigns his seat in the legislature after he pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and breach of trust.
* September 7, 2013 – Premier Darrell Dexter calls a general election for October 8, 2013.

Redistribution of ridings

In September 2012, the Electoral Boundaries Commission released its report which recommended changing the number of electoral districts from 52 to 51, including the abolition of the four protected districts of Argyle, Clare, Preston and Richmond. That move sparked significant controversy and debate. The Nova Scotia Legislature subsequently passed , taking effect upon the next election.

Several amendments were passed before the election:

* to make minor boundary adjustments:
::*
* to rename certain electoral districts:
::*
::*
::*
::*
::*

The net effect of the above changes is summarized thus:

Campaign

The election campaign began the week after Labour Day, when the legislature would normally have been expected to return to work, had there been no election campaign. As criticism or defence of government policy would dominate the agenda, and by convention electoral mandates are understood to last about four years, despite a lack of fixed election dates, the timing was not controversial.

The Muskrat Falls or Lower Churchill Project, its associated Maritime Link, and electricity policy generally, immediately emerged as the key issue in the early campaign

http://news.ca.msn.com/local/novascotia/reality-check-are-the-liberal-ads-about-power-rates-tru

Liberals emphasized Nova Scotia Power's (NSPI) dominance of power generation, and its ability to exclude alternatives through its near-monopoly ownership of the distribution network, covering 129/130 Nova Scotians. They also promised to remove a conservation charge, named for demand response programs that never materialized (though many passive conservation programs run by Efficiency Nova Scotia did prove effective) – instead proposing that NSPI pay for it from its return. Liberals and Conservatives criticized NSPI's unaccountable 9.2% guaranteed rate of return even for unwise investments. Conservatives acknowledged that it was under pressure to meet a tough renewable standard (which they would relax) but also promised to freeze rates. The NDP government continued to defend Muskrat Falls as the only viable alternative to replace coal-fired power, even though this project was before the Nova Scotia Utilities Review Board as of the election call, remained unchanged and this was reflected in their campaign materials – they criticized the Liberal plan as likely to lead to higher power rates. The basis for these criticisms was unclear. However, a similar attempt to open generation competition in New Brunswick failed, in part because New Brunswick Power retained monopoly control of the distribution and transmission network, which intimidates competitors and makes it easy in practice to exclude them.

Other issues in the campaign:
*A proposed passenger ferry from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine, re-instituting summer service that ran for decades until the 1990s, replacing a car-focused service that ran to Bar Harbor, Maine until the NDP government cancelled it. This was of particular interest to South Shore candidates, especially Yarmouth. Associated issues include the collapse of all public transit on the South Shore (with the withdrawal of TryTown from operating public buses from Yarmouth to Halifax) and a general lack of transport strategy, that could leave some of the 130,000 passengers per year stranded. It remained unclear as of election time whether an announced deal to resume service May 1, 2014, had held, and what other transport policy applie

Darrell Dexter had referred to stories from Yarmouth about the impact of the loss of ferries a "mythology

which effectively made this a campaign issue before the campaign had begun.

Results

Results by region

Synopsis of results

: = Newly created districts
: = Open seat
: = Turnout is above provincial average
: = Winning candidate was in previous Legislature
: = Incumbent had switched allegiance
: = Previously incumbent in another riding
: = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
: = Incumbency arose from byelection gain
: = Other incumbents renominated
: = Previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
: = Multiple candidates

Retiring incumbents

;The following incumbent MLAs did not run for re-election:
;Liberal
* Wayne Gaudet, Clare
* Harold "Junior" Theriault, Digby-Annapolis

;New Democratic
*Vicki Conrad, Queens
*Howard Epstein, Halifax Chebucto
* Bill Estabrooks, Timberlea-Prospect"MacDonald takes over as finance minister"
The Chronicle Herald, May 30, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
* Marilyn More, Dartmouth South-Portland Valley
* Michele Raymond, Halifax Atlantic
*Graham Steele, Halifax Fairview

Nominated candidates

Legend

bold denotes party leader

† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Annapolis Valley

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Annapolis
,
, Henry Spurr
834
''8.17%''
, ,
, Stephen McNeil
7,710
''75.52%''
,
, Ginny Hurlock
1,390
''13.62%''
,
, Ron Neufeld
227
''2.22%''
,
,
, ,
, Stephen McNeil
, -
, rowspan=3 bgcolor=whitesmoke, Clare-Digby
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Dean Kenley
842
''8.90%''
, rowspan=3 ,
, rowspan=3, Gordon Wilson
5,122
''54.13%''
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Paul Emile LeBlanc
2,911
''30.77%''
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Ian Thurber
492
''5.20%''
, ,
, Wayne Gaudet†
, -
, colspan=2 align="center", ''merged district''
, -
, ,
, Harold Theriault†
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Hants West
,
, Brian Stephens
888
''10.03%''
,
, Claude O'Hara
3,279
''37.03%''
, ,
, Chuck Porter
4,468
''50.46%''
,
, Torin Buzek
169
''1.91%''
,
,
, ,
, Chuck Porter
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Kings North
,
, Jim Morton
2,882
''32.09%''
,
, Stephen Pearl
2,787
''31.03%''
, ,
, John Lohr
2,903
''32.32%''
,
, Mary Lou Harley
362
''4.03%''
,
,
, ,
, Jim Morton
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Kings South
,
, Ramona Jennex
3,511
''35.29%''
, ,
, Keith Irving
3,878
''38.98%''
,
, Shane Buchan
2,263
''22.75%''
,
, Sheila Richardson
252
''2.53%''
,
,
, ,
, Ramona Jennex
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Kings West
,
, Bob Landry
603
''7.58%''
, ,
, Leo Glavine
5,885
''74.01%''
,
, Jody Frowley
1,275
''16.03%''
,
, Barbara Lake
157
''1.97%''
,
,
, ,
, Leo Glavine

South Shore

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Argyle-Barrington
,
, Kenn Baynton
355
''4.89%''
,
, Kent Blades
2,905
''40.05%''
, ,
, Chris d'Entremont
3,935
''54.25%''
,
,
,
,
, ,
, Chris d'Entremont
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Chester-St. Margaret's
, ,
, Denise Peterson-Rafuse
3,341
''35.01%''
,
, Tim Harris
2,943
''30.84%''
,
, Janet Irwin
3,193
''33.46%''
,
,
,
,
, ,
, Denise Peterson-Rafuse
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Lunenburg
,
, Pam Birdsall
2,768
''32.60%''
, ,
, Suzanne Lohnes-Croft
3,182
''37.48%''
,
, Brian Pickings
2,465
''29.03%''
,
,
,
,
, ,
, Pam Birdsall
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Lunenburg West
,
, Gary Ramey
2,885
''31.48%''
, ,
, Mark Furey
3,931
''42.89%''
,
, David Mitchell
2,143
''23.38%''
,
, Robert Pierce
160
''1.75%''
,
,
, ,
, Gary Ramey
, -
, rowspan=3 bgcolor=whitesmoke, Queens-Shelburne
, rowspan=3 ,
, rowspan=3, Sterling Belliveau
3,066
''36.86%''
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Benson Frail
2,302
''27.67%''
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Bruce Inglis
2,685
''32.28%''
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Madeline Taylor
211
''2.54%''
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3,
, ,
, Sterling Belliveau
, -
, colspan=2 align="center", ''merged district''
, -
, ,
, Vicki Conrad†
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Yarmouth
,
, Charles Webster
217
''2.50%''
, ,
, Zach Churchill
7,130
''82.03%''
,
, John Cunningham
1,233
''14.19%''
,
, Vanessa Goodwin-Clairmont
83
''0.95%''
,
,
, ,
, Zach Churchill

Fundy-Northeast

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley
,
, Gary Burrill