Central Nova
Central Nova (French: Nova-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 until 1996. In 1996, Antigonish County and part of Guysborough County were placed with Pictou County in a new electoral boundaries configuration to form the electoral district of Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough. A new version of Central Nova was established in 2003[2] and — in conjunction with the Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough iteration — represented a significant electoral boundaries change with specific reference to Antigonish County. Between 1867 and 1997, Antigonish County was not in a riding that included Pictou County; rather, it comprised either its own electoral district (Antigonish), or part of other districts shared with Eastern Nova Scotia (Antigonish-Guysborough)[3] and Cape Breton Island communities (Cape Breton Highlands Canso, 1968–1997).[4] In 2013, part of Antigonish County was "placed back" with communities in the electoral district of Cape Breton Canso,[5] a riding which had emerged in part from the former Cape Breton Highlands Canso riding in 1996.[5] The current version of Central Nova includes Pictou County, parts of Antigonish and Guysborough Counties (including the Town of Antigonish and the Municipality of the District of St. Mary's) and extends into Halifax Regional Municipality.[6]
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![]() Central Nova in relation to the other Nova Scotia federal electoral districts | |||
Federal electoral district | |||
Legislature | House of Commons | ||
MP |
Liberal | ||
District created | 1966 | ||
First contested | 1968 | ||
Last contested | 2021 | ||
District webpage | profile, map | ||
Demographics | |||
Population (2016)[1] | 71,962 | ||
Electors (2021) | 60,073 | ||
Area (km²)[1] | 9,308 | ||
Pop. density (per km²) | 7.7 | ||
Census division(s) | Antigonish Guysborough Halifax Pictou | ||
Census subdivision(s) | Halifax, New Glasgow, Stellarton, Antigonish, Pictou, Westville, Trenton, St. Mary's |
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
2001 | 74,445 | — |
2006 | 72,966 | −2.0% |
2011 (2003 redist.) | 72,114 | −1.2% |
2011 (2015 redist.) | 74,597 | +3.4% |
2016 | 71,962 | −3.5% |
From the 2021 census[7]
Ethnic groups:
- White: 91.4%
- First Nations: 1.1%
- Black: 1.8%
Languages:
Religions:
- Protestant: 36.5%
- Catholic: 27.6%
- No religious affiliation: 34.0%
Age:
- 0 to 14 years: 13.8%
- 15 to 64 years: 60.1%
- 65 years and over: 26.1%
- 85 years and over: 2.8%
Median Age:
- 50.0
Median total income:
- $32,000
Average total income:
- $40,520
Median household income:
- $66,500
Average household income:
- $81,600
Geography
The district covers all or part of the following counties:
- Pictou County (all)
- Antigonish County (part)
- Guysborough County (part)
- Halifax County (part)
Specifically, it includes the following municipal corporations:
- Municipality of the County of Pictou
- The towns of New Glasgow, Stellarton, Pictou, Westville, Trenton, and Antigonish
- Municipality of the County of Antigonish
- Municipality of the District of St. Mary's
- Halifax Regional Municipality (east of Jeddore Oyster Pond and Marinette).
Communities include:
- Pictou County
- Antigonish County (as part of the county portion placed in Central Nova)
- Guysborough County (as part of the county portion placed in Central Nova)
- Halifax County (as part of the county portion placed in Central Nova)
The electoral district has an area of 8,439 km2.
Political geography
In 2008, the riding had the unusual scenario of having Green Party leader Elizabeth May run without any Liberal opposition. Thus, the race was mostly between Conservative candidate Peter MacKay and May. May's support was concentrated in the community of Antigonish. Outside this area, she won just a few pockets of support. She was nearly shut out in the New Glasgow metropolitan area, where she won just one poll. MacKay won most of the rest of the riding, and the NDP picked up three polls.[8]
History
The district was created in 1966 from Antigonish—Guysborough (with part of Guysborough added to Central Nova, while Antigonish County and a portion of Guysborough were placed with the Cape Breton Highlands Canso riding),[4] Colchester—Hants, and Pictou. In sum, in 1966, Central Nova consisted of Pictou County, southern Colchester County, eastern Halifax County, and western Guysborough County.[9] In 1976, it gained some territory in Halifax County (eastern central portion), and it lost its territory in Colchester County. In 1987, it lost most of Guysborough County except for the most extreme western point, and gained all of central and central western Halifax County. In 1996, it was merged into Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, and Sackville—Eastern Shore.
The electoral district was re-created in 2003: 93.3% of the riding came from Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough riding, and 6.7% came from Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore. In the 2004 election, Conservative Party candidate Peter MacKay, who had represented Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, was returned to the House of Commons from Central Nova. He was re-elected in the 2006 election.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May contested the seat in the 2008 federal election. In a move that startled political observers, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion announced on April 13, 2007, that his party would not contest the seat in order to give May a better chance of winning, a move that marked the first time in decades that the Liberals did not field a full slate of candidates in a general election. In return, the Greens (who also fielded a full slate in the last election) did not contest Dion's Montreal riding. After coming in second to Peter MacKay, May announced she would not run in Central Nova in the next federal election.
Its new boundaries, determined during 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution, have been legally defined in the 2013 representation order. The new boundaries encompass most of the pre-2012 riding as well as a portion of Nova Scotia represented in the current electoral districts of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley and Sackville—Eastern Shore. It lost 9% of its previous territory to Cape Breton—Canso,[10] territory that, for decades prior to this, had already been part of Cape Breton Highlands Canso.[4] It came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, which took place on 19 October 2015.[11]
Members of Parliament
This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:
Parliament | Years | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Central Nova Riding created from Antigonish—Guysborough, Colchester—Hants and Pictou |
||||
28th | 1968–1971 | Russell MacEwan | Progressive Conservative | |
1971–1972 | Elmer MacKay | |||
29th | 1972–1974 | |||
30th | 1974–1979 | |||
31st | 1979–1980 | |||
32nd | 1980–1983 | |||
1983–1984 | Brian Mulroney | |||
33rd | 1984–1988 | Elmer MacKay | ||
34th | 1988–1993 | |||
35th | 1993–1997 | Roseanne Skoke | Liberal | |
Riding dissolved into Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough and Sackville—Eastern Shore |
||||
Riding re-created from Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough and Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore |
||||
38th | 2004–2006 | Peter MacKay | Conservative | |
39th | 2006–2008 | |||
40th | 2008–2011 | |||
41st | 2011–2015 | |||
42nd | 2015–2019 | Sean Fraser | Liberal | |
43rd | 2019–2021 | |||
44th | 2021–present |
Election results
2021 general election
2021 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Liberal | Sean Fraser | 18,682 | 45.89 | -0.4 | $88,208.43 | |||
Conservative | Steven Cotter | 13,060 | 32.08 | +2.6 | $38,393.01 | |||
New Democratic | Betsy MacDonald | 6,225 | 15.29 | +2.3 | $11,093.54 | |||
People's | Al Muir | 1,445 | 3.55 | +1.5 | none listed | |||
Green | Katerina Nikas | 494 | 1.21 | -6.6 | none listed | |||
Independent | Harvey Henderson | 365 | 0.90 | N/A | none listed | |||
Communist | Chris Frazer | 138 | 0.34 | -0.1 | none listed | |||
Rhinoceros | Ryan Smyth | 65 | 0.16 | N/A | none listed | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 40,474 | 99.4 | +0.3 | $107,714.33 | ||||
Total rejected ballots | 236 | 0.58 | -0.3 | |||||
Turnout | 40,710 | 66.7 | -7.8 | |||||
Registered voters | 61,073 | |||||||
Liberal hold | Swing | -1.5 | ||||||
Source: Elections Canada[12][13][14] |
2019 general election
2019 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Liberal | Sean Fraser | 20,718 | 46.59 | −11.94 | $99,263.87 | |||
Conservative | George Canyon | 13,201 | 29.69 | +3.89 | $89,511.25 | |||
New Democratic | Betsy MacDonald | 5,806 | 13.06 | +2.82 | none listed | |||
Green | Barry Randle | 3,478 | 7.82 | +3.68 | $6,467.76 | |||
People's | Al Muir | 938 | 2.11 | New | $2,862.69 | |||
Communist | Chris Frazer | 180 | 0.40 | New | $749.95 | |||
Independent | Michael Slowik | 149 | 0.33 | New | $0.00 | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,470 | 100.0 | $102,724.82 | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 412 | 0.92 | +0.40 | |||||
Turnout | 44,882 | 74.49 | −0.19 | |||||
Eligible voters | 60,251 | |||||||
Liberal hold | Swing | −7.92 | ||||||
Source: Elections Canada[15] |
2015 general election
2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Liberal | Sean Fraser | 25,909 | 58.53 | +44.58 | $113,362.49 | |||
Conservative | Fred DeLorey | 11,418 | 25.80 | –29.49 | $109,137.26 | |||
New Democratic | Ross Landry | 4,532 | 10.24 | –16.57 | $63,038.54 | |||
Green | David Hachey | 1,834 | 4.14 | +0.34 | $11,206.15 | |||
Independent | Alexander J. MacKenzie | 570 | 1.29 | – | – | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,263 | 100.00 | $204,540.28 | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 233 | 0.52 | ||||||
Turnout | 44,496 | 74.68 | ||||||
Eligible voters | 59,585 | |||||||
Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +37.04 | ||||||
Source: Elections Canada[16][17] |
2011 federal election redistributed results[18] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote | % | |
Conservative | 21,494 | 55.29 | |
New Democratic | 10,422 | 26.81 | |
Liberal | 5,424 | 13.95 | |
Green | 1,479 | 3.80 | |
Others | 57 | 0.15 |
2011 general election
2011 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Conservative | Peter MacKay | 21,593 | 56.79 | +10.19 | $66,993.75 | |||
New Democratic | David Parker | 9,412 | 24.75 | +5.19 | $22,391.41 | |||
Liberal | John Hamilton | 5,614 | 14.76 | – | $38,162.02 | |||
Green | Matthew Chisholm | 1,406 | 3.70 | -28.54 | $3,941.29 | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 38,025 | 100.0 | $83,138.94 | |||||
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 226 | 0.59 | -0.18 | |||||
Turnout | 38,251 | 65.00 | -2.01 | |||||
Eligible voters | 57,963 | |||||||
Conservative hold | Swing | +2.50 | ||||||
Sources:[19][20] |
2008 general election
2008 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Conservative | Peter MacKay | 18,240 | 46.60 | +5.94 | $61,468.89 | |||
Green | Elizabeth May | 12,620 | 32.24 | +30.65 | $57,490.60 | |||
New Democratic | Louise Lorifice | 7,659 | 19.56 | -13.33 | $39,917.36 | |||
Christian Heritage | Michael Harris MacKay | 427 | 1.09 | – | none listed | |||
Canadian Action | Paul Kemp | 196 | 0.50 | – | $87.79 | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 39,142 | 100.0 | $80,462 | |||||
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 304 | 0.77 | +0.42 | |||||
Turnout | 39,446 | 67.01 | -2.16 | |||||
Eligible voters | 58,863 | |||||||
Conservative hold | Swing | -24.71 |
2006 general election
2006 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Conservative | Peter MacKay | 17,134 | 40.66 | -2.61 | $55,938.56 | |||
New Democratic | Alexis MacDonald | 13,861 | 32.89 | +5.23 | $28,582.28 | |||
Liberal | Dan Walsh | 10,349 | 24.56 | -1.83 | $43,064.69 | |||
Green | David Orton | 671 | 1.59 | -1.09 | $901.04 | |||
Marxist–Leninist | Allan H. Bezanson | 124 | 0.29 | – | none listed | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 42,139 | 100.0 | $75,651 | |||||
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 147 | 0.35 | -0.17 | |||||
Turnout | 42,286 | 69.17 | +3.85 | |||||
Eligible voters | 61,137 | |||||||
Conservative hold | Swing | -3.92 |
2004 general election
2004 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Conservative | Peter MacKay | 16,376 | 43.27 | -8.13 | $53,745.97 | |||
New Democratic | Alexis MacDonald | 10,470 | 27.66 | +14.84 | $25,231.91 | |||
Liberal | Susan Green | 9,986 | 26.39 | -3.95 | $44,229.04 | |||
Green | Rebecca Mosher | 1,015 | 2.68 | – | $222.50 | |||
Total valid votes/expense limit | 37,847 | 100.0 | $73,053 | |||||
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 198 | 0.52 | ||||||
Turnout | 38,045 | 65.32 | -0.92 | |||||
Eligible voters | 58,240 | |||||||
Conservative notional gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | -11.48 | ||||||
Changes from 2000 are based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals. |
2000 federal election redistributed results | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Vote | % | |
Progressive Conservative | 17,969 | 47.53 | |
Liberal | 11,471 | 30.34 | |
New Democratic | 4,845 | 12.82 | |
Alliance | 2,976 | 7.87 | |
Others | 541 | 1.43 |
1993 general election
1993 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Liberal | Roseanne Skoke | 16,399 | 43.61 | +5.22 | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Ken Streatch | 11,916 | 31.69 | -16.89 | ||||
Reform | Howard Mackinnon | 6,068 | 16.14 | |||||
New Democratic | Hugh Mackenzie | 2,446 | 6.50 | -6.52 | ||||
National | Gerard W. Horgan | 511 | 1.36 | |||||
Natural Law | Pulkesh Lakhanpal | 266 | 0.71 | |||||
Total valid votes | 37,606 | 100.00 |
1988 general election
1988 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 19,065 | 48.58 | -12.42 | ||||
Liberal | Marion Anderson | 15,066 | 38.39 | +12.39 | ||||
New Democratic | Gloria Murphy | 5,110 | 13.02 | +0.02 | ||||
Total valid votes | 39,241 | 100.00 |
1984 general election
1984 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 21,462 | 61.00 | +0.81 | ||||
Liberal | Al Lomas | 9,148 | 26.00 | +0.95 | ||||
New Democratic | Gloria E. Murphy | 4,572 | 13.00 | -0.39 | ||||
Total valid votes | 35,182 | 100.00 |
1983 by-election
Canadian federal by-election, 29 August 1983 On the resignation of Elmer MacKay, 15 June 1983 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Brian Mulroney | 18,882 | 60.19 | +12.16 | ||||
Liberal | Alvin Sinclair | 7,858 | 25.05 | -9.21 | ||||
New Democratic | Roy G. Demarsh | 4,202 | 13.39 | -4.32 | ||||
Independent | Anne McBride | 287 | 0.91 | |||||
Independent | Bob Robert Kirk | 97 | 0.31 | |||||
Independent | John Turmel | 46 | 0.15 | |||||
Total valid votes | 31,372 | 100.00 |
1980 general election
1980 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 15,576 | 48.03 | -8.55 | ||||
Liberal | Alvin Sinclair | 11,111 | 34.26 | +4.37 | ||||
New Democratic | Gary A. Chambers | 5,743 | 17.71 | +4.18 | ||||
Total valid votes | 32,430 | 100.00 |
1979 general election
1979 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 18,907 | 56.58 | +2.65 | ||||
Liberal | Lloyd P. Mackay | 9,988 | 29.89 | -6.41 | ||||
New Democratic | Gary A. Chambers | 4,521 | 13.53 | +4.67 | ||||
Total valid votes | 33,416 | 100.00 |
1974 general election
1974 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 17,459 | 53.93 | -3.02 | ||||
Liberal | Fern Dunn | 11,753 | 36.30 | +7.33 | ||||
New Democratic | John Rod Brown | 2,869 | 8.86 | -3.98 | ||||
Social Credit | John J. Henderson | 292 | 0.90 | -0.34 | ||||
Total valid votes | 32,373 | 100.00 |
1972 general election
1972 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 18,259 | 56.95 | +4.37 | ||||
Liberal | D. Laurence Mawhinney | 9,288 | 28.97 | -9.37 | ||||
New Democratic | John Rod Brown | 4,117 | 12.84 | +6.20 | ||||
Social Credit | John J. Henderson | 397 | 1.24 | -1.20 | ||||
Total valid votes | 32,061 | 100.00 |
1971 by-election
Canadian federal by-election, 31 May 1971 On the resignation of Russell MacEwan, 14 January 1971 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Elmer MacKay | 15,359 | 52.58 | -5.99 | ||||
Liberal | Clarrie Mackinnon | 11,200 | 38.34 | +5.07 | ||||
New Democratic | Allan M. Marchbank | 1,940 | 6.64 | -1.52 | ||||
Social Credit | John J. Henderson | 714 | 2.44 | |||||
Total valid votes | 29,213 | 100.00 |
1968 general election
1968 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
Progressive Conservative | Russell MacEwan | 16,720 | 58.57 | |||||
Liberal | Donald F. Stewart | 9,499 | 33.27 | |||||
New Democratic | Leo F. McKay | 2,330 | 8.16 | |||||
Total valid votes | 28,549 | 100.00 |
See also
References
- "Central Nova (Code 12002) Census Profile". 2011 census. Government of Canada - Statistics Canada. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
Notes
- Statistics Canada: 2012
- "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- Canada, Library of Parliament. "Central Nova, Nova Scotia (2004-05-23 - )". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- "Census Profile, 2021 Census, Statistics Canada - Validation Error".
- "Riding « Pundits' Guide to Canadian Federal Elections".
- "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- Commission's Report – Nova Scotia
- Timeline for the Redistribution of Federal Electoral Districts
- "Confirmed candidates — Central Nova". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- "September 20, 2021 General Election - Election Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- "Candidate Campaign Returns". Elections Canada. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- "Results Validated by the Returning Officer". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Central Nova (Validated results)". Elections Canada. October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- Pundits' Guide to Canadian Elections
- Elections Canada – Official voting results, Forty-first general election, 2011
- Elections Canada – Candidate's electoral campaign return, 41st general election