A 'return to normal' for Nova Scotia after federal vote

HALIFAX -

Nova Scotians are digesting the results of a federal election that didn't change much for the country.

"The government did not deserve a majority and the other parties had some shortcomings," says voter John Dalziel.

For resident Dawn Belliveau, the result didn't seem worth the effort.

"It seemed that it was very rushed," she says, "it seemed that is was unnecessary."

Necessary or not, the results at the polls mean the Liberals lost two seats in the province – including one held by a prominent member of federal cabinet.

The riding of Cumberland-Colchester County returned to its traditional Tory roots, with Liberal incumbent Lenore Zann defeated by family doctor Stephen Ellis.

Healthcare had been a key issue in the provincial election, and Dr. Ellis said at his campaign event election night that he heard those concerns during his campaign.

"People are tired of not having a family physician and we know that primary care backs up our emergency rooms and backs up our ambulance service as well," he says.

But political science professor Tom Bickerton doesn't think the Conservative's platform on healthcare was the deciding factor.

Bickerton says the Conservative win in Cumberland-Colchester was likely more about appealing to the area's well-established Tory base.

"This time out, they had a leader who's more centrist," says Bickerton, "it made those traditionally progressive voters more comfortable voting CPC."

The other riding that went blue is South Shore-St.Margaret's, which had been held by Bernadette Jordan.

Bickerton believes her handling as federal fisheries minister of the ongoing conflict over the Mi'kmaw treaty fishery likely contributed to her defeat by CPC candidate Rick Perkins.

The chief of Sipekne'katik First Nation, Chief Mike Sack, has often been at odds with Jordan and the department over just how much control Ottawa and the DFO should have over indigenous fishing activities.

While Chief Sack says he doesn't like to see Jordan lose her job, he is looking forward to a new fisheries minister.

"Hoping that it's somebody from like central Canada," he says, "who has an unbiased opinion and can work with us."

In Halifax, the federal NDP had high hopes in its candidate, former provincial NDP MLA Lisa Roberts.

But in what was a tight race that ran into the early morning hours of Tuesday, Roberts had to concede to re-elected Liberal MP Andy Fillmore.

Fillmore says the work of the still-minority Liberal government will now continue.

"We're not through with this pandemic yet," Fillmore told CTV News from his election headquarters Monday night, "and we're not done getting big ticket items across the threshold like ten dollar a day daycare."

In the Cape Breton riding of Sydney-Victoria - the province's only indigenous MP retained his seat as well.

Jaime Battiste beat out Conservative Eddie Orrell by 1,124 votes.

While the PPC candidate brought in more than that, at 1,173 votes, Orrell doesn't think a split vote on the right was a factor.

"I don't know what happened," says Orrell by phone while taking down his election signs in New Waterford after he says he and his team knocked on more than 20,000 doors on the campaign trail.

"The PPC vote I don't think was an influence in this campaign, I didn't hear that on the doors. I didn't hear that was going to be a factor in my campaign."

With eight Liberals and three Conservatives heading to Ottawa on behalf of Nova Scotia, Bickerton says the province is "into a more 'normal' distribution of political power" – which he says is a good thing, when it comes to representing the views and values of voters.