Central Nova


Central Nova is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1997 and since 2004.
From 1983 to 1984, the riding's then Member of Parliament, Brian Mulroney, was Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mulroney was later Prime Minister while representing a riding in Quebec.

Demographics

From the 2006 census
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The district covers all or part of the following counties:
Specifically, it includes the following municipal corporations:
Communities include:
;Pictou County
;Antigonish County
;Guysborough County
;Halifax County
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. McKay won most of the rest of the riding, and the NDP picked up three polls.

History

The district was created in 1966 from Antigonish—Guysborough, Colchester—Hants, and Pictou. In 1966, it consisted of Pictou County, southern Colchester County, eastern Halifax County, and western Guysborough County. In 1976, it gained some territory in Halifax County, 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 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. It came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, which took place on 19 October 2015.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Election results

2019 general election

2015 general election

2011 general election

2008 general election

2006 general election

2004 general election

1993 general election

1988 general election

1984 general election

1983 by-election

1980 general election

1979 general election

1974 general election

1972 general election

1971 by-election

1968 general election