A day after he resigned, former Independent MLA Trevor Zinck says the campaigning to win back his seat has already begun.
The embattled politician pleaded guilty Monday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court to breach of trust and fraud over $5,000 for filing bogus expense claims.
Three other former politicians have also pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges that stemmed from a 2010 investigation by the province's auditor general into constituency allowance spending.
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter had little to say about Zinck’s departure, except that he did the right thing by resigning and needs help.
“Personally, I feel he’s a guy in distress and I think the approach I take is a humanist one when I say people who are in distress, I hope they get the help they need,” says Dexter.
But Zinck disagrees with Dexter, saying Nova Scotian residents are the ones who need help, after having been let down by the provincial government.
“The Dexter government has disappointed a lot of people…I have a whole lot of work to do. I have some challenges in front of me,” says Zinck.
“If there’s continued support in the community, I have some choices to make in the future, but I think Mr. Dexter has let down a large number of Nova Scotians and it’s unfortunate.”
Dexter has six months to call a byelection for the riding of Dartmouth-North, but with a possible provincial election call looming, political parties appear to be gearing up for political campaigning.
Zinck, who was first elected as an NDP member in 2006 and re-elected in 2009, says he intends to run as an Indepdendent candidate in the provincial election, pending the outcome of the sentencing hearing.
The Liberals have nominated Joanne Bernard to face off against Zinck in the riding of Dartmouth-North.
“I think we’ve been under a cloud over the last couple of years and I think the people of Dartmouth-North deserve to have an effective and focused representative in the legislature and I’m looking forward to turning the page on that,” says Bernard.
Progressive Conservative candidate Sean Brownlow says he realizes all candidates will face challenges getting out the vote.
“Trust is the major thing and it’s been broken here and we need to bring that back,” says Brownlow.
The NDP has yet to nominate their candidate.
“We had deliberately held back on nomination because Mr. Zinck had gone to trial, to see the outcome,” says Jill Marzetti of the NDP. “A lot of folks in the past were very much attached to Mr. Zinck and we wanted to have that separation.”
While some voters say they have seen enough of Zinck, some of his supporters remain committed to the embattled politician.
“He won’t get my vote. He can’t be trusted now. I can’t imagine anyone trusting him at this stage, but some will,” says one area resident.
“I would support him as an independent for sure,” says another.
Zinck's supporters were still collecting signatures of support at his office on Thursday. The signatures will be submitted during his sentencing hearing on Aug. 7.
While Zinck vows to run in the next provincial election, the hearing may put that goal out of reach.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Marie Adsett
