The candidates for the leadership of Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative party expressed their support Thursday for the Acadian community in its efforts to restore the province’s minority ridings.
The issue came up in Tusket as part of the candidates’ third leadership debate, where they were asked for their position on re-establishing the Acadian ridings, given the ruling by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal that the elimination of the ridings was unconstitutional.
“We need to protect distinct communities, so we need to find a way to make that happen,” said Tim Houston, MLA for Pictou East and one of the five people vying to become Nova Scotia’s next PC leader. “There’s a process going on right now and the end result of that will have to protect the distinct communities, which is what they deserve, so I support that and I will work in the legislature to make that happen.”
Julie Chaisson spoke of the need for cultural and heritage preservation, saying, “The French culture in our province is very important.” Doing away with the minority ridings is inconsistent with that view, she said.
“I would not support anything that would diminish our cultures and push them to one side,” she said.
Said fellow candidate Cecil Clarke, “What caused the problem that the Acadians had to go to court in the first place? Political meddling by an NDP minister.” He was referring to the boundary review process conducted in 2012, when the initial recommendation from the commission reviewing the boundaries at that time was that the minority ridings should be maintained. The NDP government of the day rejected that, however, and eventually the minority, or protected, ridings were eliminated.
Clarke said the next commission that will examine the electoral boundaries should be allowed to do its job and he encouraged people to attend the commission’s meetings and make sure their voice is heard.
“A wrong can be righted now and it should be righted,” said Clarke, mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality and a former Tory MLA and cabinet minister.
PC leadership candidate Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, MLA for Cumberland North, cited the minority riding issue as an example of how citizens need to be consulted before decisions are made.
“Politics needs to be taken out of so many decisions,” she said. “Decisions should be made based on what is right for the people. And in government ... we shouldn’t be making decisions based on what’s going to be best for us politically. We should be making decisions based on what is right for you, the people we represent.”
Candidate John Lohr echoed some of the remarks made by others and he congratulated Nova Scotia's Acadian federation (FANE) for its successful court challenge regarding the minority ridings. He said it’s important to respect the work of the commission that will review the electoral boundaries.
“And we certainly respect the integrity and the vision and cultural identity of the Acadian community,” said Lohr, MLA for Kings North. “We’re very fortunate to have the Acadian (community) here and we want to see it represented adequately in the legislature.”
Aside from the issue of minority ridings, the leadership candidates discussed questions pertaining to health care, education, marine protected areas and the size of government/tax reduction.
Further debates are scheduled for Aug. 9 in the Sydney area, Sept. 11 in Bridgewater and Oct. 10 in Truro. The PC leadership convention will be held in Halifax in late October.
