Nova Scotia byelection vote set for Tuesday in riding formerly held by popular Tory

Heading into Tuesday’s vote the Tories hold 32 seats in the 55-seat Nova Scotia legislature, while the Liberals hold 15, the NDP has six seats and there is one Independent.

Voters in the rural Nova Scotia provincial electoral district of Pictou West are ready to go to the polls Tuesday in a riding that voted decisively Tory in the 2021 provincial election.

The riding borders another held by Premier Tim Houston, who quickly called the byelection for May 21 following last month’s surprise retirement of the legislature’s Speaker, Karla MacFarlane.

MacFarlane had held the riding, which includes the town of Pictou, N.S., since 2013 and easily retained the seat for the Progressive Conservatives in the 2021 general election by taking nearly 64 per cent of the vote.

Houston, who had six months to call the byelection, did so on April 21, a little over two weeks after MacFarlane announced her decision.

Lori Turnbull, a political scientist at Dalhousie University, believes the speed of the premier’s call is an indication the governing Tories are confident about their standing in a riding where they are running a newcomer to politics, Marco MacLeod.

“They went with a neophyte and they were comfortable doing that,” said Turnbull.

MacLeod, who runs a small custom lumber mill on his family farm, said he was conscious of the need to establish his own presence despite his party’s perceived strength.

“I’m a fresh face here, so I’m not taking anything for granted and we’ve been putting a lot of energy into reaching all corners of the riding,” he said in an interview last week. “I’m not a huge social media guy, I prefer going on doorsteps and having conversations with people.”