There's a slate of new faces on the federal ballot for this newly named riding: Cape Spear

Formerly known as St. John's South-Mount Pearl and represented by outgoing Liberal MP Seamus O'Regan, the newly renamed riding of Cape Spear is home to some 80,000 residents.

Those constituents will have five candidates to choose from come election day — none of whom has held federal office.

The winner will represent a riding that stretches from North America's most eastern tip to Paradise in the west.

CBC News is profiling each of Newfoundland and Labrador's seven ridings in advance of election day on April 28.

These are the candidates jockeying for the seat in Cape Spear:

Tom Osborne, Liberal Party

Tom Osborne is a familiar face provincially, having served in some capacity at Confederation Building for nearly three decades — as a member of the Progressive Conservative party and Liberal party — but this election marks his first run for a job in Ottawa.

The longtime provincial politician has been the province's health, education and finance minister in the past several years, announced his retirement from politics last July — a short-lived endeavour — before he was acclaimed as the federal Liberal candidate for Cape Spear.

"I think, you know, I've got a proven track record. People in the area trust me, they know my work ethic," Osborne said.

Osborne says he's always used a "steady hand at the wheel" approach when dealing with crises. 

"This is the most important election for decades," he said, pointing to ongoing threats to Canada's sovereignty and a rapidly shifting trade relationship with the U.S.

Osborne says he and his constituents are both focused intently on the cost of living. Removing the carbon tax, he says, was the first step to reducing the cost of bringing goods to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney's recent promise to halve Marine Atlantic ferry fees will also help ease the burden, Osborne says, as will Liberal promises to build 500,000 homes and remove the sales tax for first-time buyers.

Osborne echoes other Liberal candidates on energy, saying he'd take a balanced approach between investing in green initiatives like heat pumps and renewables while continuing to support offshore fossil fuel production.

"If we're not producing our oil, we're using dirty oil. One of the things we can do to protect our environment is to use cleaner oil, which is what Newfoundland and Labrador has," he said.

"Until people stop using combustion engine vehicles or stop flying in planes or we have a different sort of energy for planes, we need oil and we need gas."

Brenda Walsh, New Democratic Party

Brenda Walsh, a public servant and union leader for the last 30 years, says she wants to represent people with disabilities — and when you consider mental and physical illness, she says, that's as many as 30 per cent of people.

"Nobody's bringing it up. So I thought, hey, I'll go around with my nice chair and I'll bring it up," Walsh, a wheelchair user, told CBC News.

While the international realm remains unstable, Walsh says, constituents aren't losing sight of issues at home, like food insecurity and access to affordable housing.

Walsh says the housing solution has to begin in Ottawa. "That's where the money is going to start. And if that doesn't get passed down, you know, what are they going to do?" she said.

She would also promote co-operative housing models — based on her own experience living in one in Ontario.

"I thought it was the best thing because you got low income, you got no income and you got regular market renters. So you never had that stigma," she said.

Corey Curtis, Conservative Party

Corey Curtis, a Paradise resident and Oceanex executive, says his resumé gives him a leg up in terms of understanding one of Newfoundland and Labrador's largest economic drivers.

"A lot of regulatory changes have taken place over the last nine years have really hammered our offshore industry," Curtis said, referring to emissions caps and what he bills as declining confidence in Canadian oil and gas regulations.

"I feel my experience being at the table with those energy companies and really understanding those challenges gives me a unique perspective."

Curtis says promising to market and bolster Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore is a key part of his campaign, adding that government investment has been critical in the last two decades to growing the industry.

That, he said, should continue.

"We have so many resources that we can use now to really build a robust economy. We should be one of the richest, if not the richest province in Canada," he said.

Curtis says families and small businesses alike are feeling the pinch across Cape Spear, and relying on oil and gas could help solve the affordability problem.

"I think we've seen a record number of businesses close in this district," he said.

If elected, Curtis says he'd help cut the red tape he says is holding back housing development, and work on reducing the time it takes to get a building permit. He'd also advocate for more training incentives for the trades to spur housing construction.

"I don't think we've done a good enough job of promoting what Newfoundland and Labrador can do," he said. "We need to build that business confidence and really have one of the best economies in the country."

Also running for Cape Spear are Memorial University student Kaelem Tingate for the Green Party and educator Mike Peach for the Animal Protection Party.

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