Progressive Conservatives make it 3-for-3 in byelections

Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservatives held on to three seats in byelections on Tuesday, extending their hold on two districts in Cape Breton and one on the South Shore.

Colton LeBlanc will be the next MLA in Argyle-Barrington, Murray Ryan is the next Northside-Westmount MLA and Brian Comer will represent Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg in the legislature.

LeBlanc led comfortably from the time the polls closed, finishing with 3,850 votes. Liberal Charlene LeBlanc (1,915) was next, while New Democrat Robin Smith (213) and Green Party candidate Adam Randall (202) rounded out the field. Voter turnout was 49.1 per cent.

In a telephone interview from his victory party at the West Pubnico Golf and Country Club, LeBlanc said his time as a paramedic has shown him more needs to be done for health care.

"Across this province, we have around 52,000 people without a family doctor," he said.

Lack of doctors creating 'burden' on emergency rooms: LeBlanc

"And that's causing a burden on emergency rooms. People with non-urgent complaints that don't have access to primary care are obligated to go to an emergency room for simple things as a prescription refill and that's overburdening our system."

Comer, a registered nurse, maintained an early lead in Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg and never looked back.

He finished with 3,215 votes, followed by Liberal candidate Marc Botte (2,306), Independent candidate Russ Green (979), New Democrat Mary Beth MacDonald (565) and Green Party candidate Bill Matheson (287). Voter turnout was 48.9 per cent.

Comer said his first foray into politics was a big learning experience.

"I feel privileged, excited, exhausted, a little bit of everything right now," he said at the party's celebration at the Sydney River volunteer fire hall. "It's been a tremendous experience. I had the privilege of talking to thousands of constituents on the doorsteps and hearing their concerns firsthand."

Things were much tighter in Northside-Westmount, where a seven-candidate field made for closer results all evening until Ryan distanced himself from the field, finishing with 2,243 votes.

Liberal candidate Paul Ratchford (1,645) was next, followed by Independent candidate Danny Laffin (1,465) and New Democrat Ronald Crowther (1,316). Independent Andrew Doyle (834), Green Party candidate Ron Parker (203) and Atlantica Party candidate Thomas Bethell (38) rounded out the field.

Voter turnout was 48.8 per cent.

Ryan said it would take a while for the result to sink in.

"I've watched close races on the TV and in the news before during elections, and you always sort of watch it with fascination," he said. "But when it's your own name there and you're watching this back and forth and you're neck-and-neck and then you slowly start getting some breathing room … you're in a state of disbelief, and then you feel pretty good about it."

Crowded field in Northside-Westmount

Added intrigue in the district came following a sudden decision by the Tories to change their candidate just before the nomination deadline.

Laffin was dumped over concerns neither he nor the party has ever publicly disclosed. Instead, Laffin ran as an Independent and Ryan was named the Progressive Conservative candidate.

The last-minute change forced Elections Nova Scotia to rule on how some of the advanced ballots cast before the candidates list was finalized would be counted. Justice Minister Mark Furey, who is responsible for the Elections Act, has said he is willing to review the rule that allows voting before candidate nominations close, something the province's chief electoral officer called for in 2017.

Tuesday's byelections were made necessary when veteran Tory MLAs Chris d'Entremont (Argyle-Barrington), Alfie MacLeod (Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg) and Eddie Orrell (Northside-Westmount) all resigned to run in next month's federal election.

Vote share for the NDP in the three districts was fairly similar to the 2017 general election, as was the case for the Liberals with the exception of Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg, where they saw an increase in vote share of 10 percentage points. While the Tories easily held the three seats, the presence of Independent candidates in Cape Breton ate into their vote share compared to 2017.

There will be another byelection at some point after the federal election campaign officially begins.

Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River Independent MLA Lenore Zann has the Liberal nomination for Cumberland-Colchester but is waiting for the writ to drop before resigning from her seat in Province House. A date for that byelection cannot be set until the seat becomes vacant.

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