In fishery-dependent N.S. ridings, industry turmoil is central in this election

In coastal towns around southwest Nova Scotia, where lobster fishing holds communities and economies together, headwinds facing the industry are a central campaign issue drawing the attention of voters and candidates alike.

Michael Cotter is a resident of one of those towns. In Lockeport, he operates Cotter Seafood Products, buying lobster from fishermen around Atlantic Canada and selling it to markets around the world.

Cotter employs about 25 people, and he said his business — along with the rest of the seafood industry — is integral to the town of about 500.

"The whole lobster thing, it trickles down through to the guy that's selling the bag of potatoes on the corner.… We need the lobster industry 'cause that's all we have," he said in an interview at his lobster pound.

But so far in this election campaign, Cotter said no candidates have shown him that they understand his community and his industry. His vote is undecided.

About 160 kilometres away, in Meteghan, fourth-generation lobster fisherman Roger LeBlanc is more blunt in his assessment of the politics of southwest Nova Scotia.

"Liberal Ottawa [has] thrown us aside like we're nobody," LeBlanc told Radio-Canada. 

LeBlanc ties his frustration to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, reflecting an anti-Trudeau sentiment that is so pervasive in the area that it was a problem for Nova Scotia Liberals in last fall's provincial election. 

But with Trudeau gone, and challenges mounting for this cornerstone industry of rural Nova Scotia, the direction voters will choose in this election is unclear.

The most lucrative lobster fishing areas in the country are represented by two federal ridings in southwest Nova Scotia: South Shore-St. Margarets, where Cotter lives, and the newly coined Acadie-Annapolis (formerly West Nova), which LeBlanc calls home. 

The area has been in turmoil for five years as Ottawa has struggled to regulate the lobster fishery in a way that satisfies both commercial fishermen and Mi'kmaw communities that are asserting their treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood. 

Some Mi'kmaw fishers are doing so outside the commercial season, and many commercial fishers say this is unlawful and compromises the sustainability of the fishery.

Sipekne'katik, the First Nation at the centre of the controversy, is in talks with Ottawa about finding a solution.

In 2020, Sipekne'katik launched its fishery in St. Marys Bay, which falls within the Acadie-Annapolis riding and is about 270 kilometres southwest of the First Nation. 

The band has cited the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision that found Donald Marshall Jr. had the right to earn a moderate livelihood by selling eels he had caught.

The band also filed a lawsuit, seeking a declaration from the court that the federal Fisheries Act and regulations infringe on the treaty right to fish lobster for a moderate livelihood, including the prohibition on catching and holding lobsters without a licence and fishing outside of a commercial season.

Sipekne'katik Chief Michelle Glasgow did not respond to a request from CBC News for an interview.

The fishery is also grappling with tariffs. China hit Canadian seafood with a 25 per cent tariff in March, and although the industry has so far been spared from American tariffs, some still fear U.S. President Donald Trump could add Canadian seafood to his tariff list at any moment.

The recent departure of Clearwater Seafoods from the live lobster business earlier this year also calls the stability of the industry into question. In February, the company shut down its lobster line in Lockeport, a couple streets away from Cotter Seafood Products, eliminating dozens of jobs.

Cotter said it's time for politicians to "step up" and find solutions to these challenges, ensuring a future for his small town.

LeBlanc said he's looking for a government that will enforce compliance with the commercial fishing season.

Regulation of the lobster fishery was an election issue in 2021, too. Bernadette Jordan, who was the incumbent Liberal MP for South Shore-St. Margarets and fisheries minister in the Trudeau government, was ousted. By her own account, frustration with her record on the fisheries file is what cost her the job.

Conservatives drill down on need for enforcement

Both ridings in southwest Nova Scotia are now held by Conservatives. Chris d'Entremont in Acadie-Annapolis is a long-serving politician at both the provincial and federal levels, and has been deputy Speaker in the House of Commons since 2021.

"Fishing is the No. 1 issue on the door," d'Entremont said to Radio-Canada.

"The solution is really to give the mandate to the fisheries officers to actually do their job," he said.

Rick Perkins flipped South Shore-St. Margarets for the Conservatives in 2021, and has been highly critical of the Liberals' handling of the fisheries. He has frequently gotten into heated exchanges with the fisheries minister in question period and in committee meetings.

Perkins said fishermen tell him they appreciate his advocacy, and some even think he could be more aggressive.

"Certainly at the doors in this campaign they say, 'I watch everything you do, I don't know how you restrain yourself.' They think I'm restrained," he said.

Perkins said he thinks his advocacy has resulted in "a big step forward" insofar as he's brought greater awareness to fisheries issues in Ottawa. But ultimately, he said government action has been insufficient. He promises that a Conservative government would enforce the commercial fishing season.

"I'm looking forward to our party forming government so that we can finally, after a lost 10 years of Liberal government, have a well-run fishery that is focused on the growth of the commercial harvesters and one of our most important contributors to Nova Scotia's economy," Perkins said.

CBC's poll tracker shows the Liberals several points ahead of the Conservatives, and all other parties trailing far behind the two front-runners.

Liberals distance themselves from Trudeau record

Neither of the Liberal candidates in these ridings defended the Trudeau government on the fisheries file.

In fact, Acadie-Annapolis candidate Ronnie LeBlanc has been critical of the federal government on the issue since he was a provincial Liberal MLA, accusing Ottawa of abdicating its responsibility to enforce fishing seasons. LeBlanc lost his seat at Province House in last fall's provincial election.

"I strongly believe that with the new prime minister, Mark Carney, there'll be a different approach. He's from the private sector, he's a pragmatist, he's a centrist and I think he's solutions-oriented," LeBlanc said, standing on the Meteghan wharf, where he used to fish.

Prior to becoming a provincial politician in 2021, LeBlanc was a lobster fisherman for three decades. He said his background is what motivated him to run in this election.

"I've raised my family [here], and my friends, my neighbours are fishermen. So it's important for me to bring forward those concerns and challenges."

Jessica Fancy-Landry, a Grade 9 teacher who's making her first foray into politics, said she knows it's crucial to make inroads into fishing communities.

Her first campaign event was a meet-and-greet in Clark's Harbour, a fishing community about 200 kilometres away from her hometown of Chester. She said some of the conversations were "precarious," but overall "positive."

"As a first-time candidate, I am here to learn about those concerns and help formulate an action plan as a constituency to take to Ottawa to help advocate for that," Fancy-Landry said in an interview.

She said she's encountered many fishermen who feel ignored and disempowered, and she wants to turn that around and show them that a Carney Liberal government would bring a "brighter future."

"My main concern is about healthy, happy communities," she said.

Other candidates on the ballot

Acadie-Annapolis and South Shore-St. Margarets both have long histories of alternating between Liberal and Conservative representation. No other parties have been competitive in recent elections.

In this election, the NDP are represented in Acadie-Annapolis by Ingrid Deon, who runs a digital marketing company that she founded. Deon has previously worked for the provincial NDP. 

Deon told Radio-Canada, "Illegal fishing by non-Indigenous fishermen is not something that we support, but we do support Indigenous fishers' right to a moderate livelihood."

Also on the ticket are Matthew Piggott for the Greens and James Strange for the People's Party of Canada.

In South Shore-St. Margarets, the NDP named Brendan Mosher as their candidate, but they dropped out shortly before the Elections Canada deadline. Mosher said in a social media post that it "wasn't the right time to make my run for the federal election."

A party spokesperson told CBC News that Hayden Henderson stepped in, but because the party had already endorsed Mosher, Elections Canada would not allow it to also endorse Henderson, who appears on the list of official candidates as an Independent.

"We've asked Elections Canada to fix this, but for now, Hayden will appear on the ballot without a party label," the party spokesperson said.

Mark Embrett is running for the Greens and Patrick Boyd is running for the People's Party.