2006 Nova Scotia general election

Timeline

• September 29, 2005 - Premier John Hamm, leader of the Progressive Conservative minority government, announces his intent to resign as soon as the party chooses a new leader.
• February 11, 2006 - Rodney MacDonald is elected to replace Hamm as leader.
• February 24, 2006 - MacDonald becomes Premier and his cabinet is sworn in.
• May 9, 2006 - MacDonald's government introduces an "election-style" budget in the legislature.
• May 13, 2006 - Premier Rodney MacDonald calls a general election for June 13, 2006.

Campaign

MacKenzie was an outspoken critic of the governing Tories and accused them of living in a "fantasy world" due to their promise to cut taxes and increase spending in the 2006-07 budget.

No single issue dominated the election campaign, with all parties offering up various promises for university students to seniors.

Results

The Progressive Conservatives gained several points in the popular vote, but made a net loss of two seats, with losses to the NDP partially countered by the PCs doubling their representation on MacDonald's native Cape Breton Island at the expense of the Liberals. The gap between the Liberals and NDP also significantly increased, in both the popular vote and seat count; while the Liberals and NDP had previously been nearly even, the NDP gained a significant advantage on the Liberals and moved into position as the primary opposition to the governing PCs.

Results by party

Results by region

Retiring incumbents

;Progressive Conservative

• Ron Russell, Hants West
• Cecil O'Donnell, Shelburne
• Bill Langille, Colchester North
• Peter G. Christie, Bedford
• John Hamm, Pictou Centre
• Jim DeWolfe, Pictou East

;New Democratic

• Jerry Pye, Dartmouth North

;Independent

• Russell MacKinnon, Cape Breton West

Nominated candidates

Legend

bold denotes party leader

† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

|- | |Blair Hannam 2,041 24.57% | |Calum MacKenzie 1,391 16.75% || |Stephen McNeil 4,668 56.20% | |Ken McGowan 206 2.48% | | ||

| |Arnold LeBlanc 1,622 28.08% | |Paul Comeau 1,269 21.97% || |Wayne Gaudet 2,803 48.53% | |Diane Doucet-Bean 82 1.42% | | ||

| |Jimmy MacAlpine 2,170 36.42% | |Andrew Oliver 663 11.13% || |Harold Theriault 3,034 50.91% | |Namron Bean 92 1.54% | | ||

| |Sean Bennett 2,486 28.97% | |Paula Lunn 2,924 34.08% | |Sam Schurman 201 2.34% | | ||

| |Jim Morton 2,190 26.40% | |Madonna Spinazola 1,757 21.18% | |Christopher Alders 195 2.35% | | ||

| |David Mangle 3,130 35.01% | |Ray Savage 1,797 20.10% | |Steven McGowan 226 2.53% | | ||

| |John Prall 2,801 33.18% | |Greg Hubbert 1,590 18.83% || |Leo Glavine 3,940 46.67% | |Nistal Prem de Boer 112 1.33% | | || |Leo Glavine |}

South Shore

|- || |Chris d'Entremont 3,158 67.65% | |Charles Muise 531 11.38% | |Christian Surette 913 19.56% | |Patricia Saunders 66 1.41% | | ||

| |Jane Matheson 2,833 30.60% | |Rick Fraughton 2,192 23.68% | |Joanne MacKinnon 282 3.05% | | ||

| |Chris Heide 2,669 33.22% | |Rick Welsford 1,200 14.94% | |Stuart Simpson 196 2.44% | | ||

| |Bill Smith 3,299 39.19% | |Martin Bell 1,324 15.73% | |Brendan MacNeill 157 1.87% | | ||

| |Kerry Morash 2,998 48.59% || |Vicki Conrad 3,053 49.48% | | | |Margaret Whitney 119 1.93% | | ||

| |Eddie Nickerson 2,353 35.00% || |Sterling Belliveau 2,438 36.27% | |Kirk Cox 1,790 26.63% | |Derek Jones 141 2.10% | | ||

| |John Deveau 1,667 20.73% | |Dolores Atwood 1,051 13.07% | |Matt Granger 152 1.89% | | || |Richard Hurlburt |}

Fundy-Northeast

|- || |Brooke Taylor 4,790 63.85% | |Gary Burrill 1,891 25.21% | |Carolyn Matthews 657 8.76% | |Leona MacLeod 164 2.19% | | ||

| |Rob Assels 1,511 20.21% | |Bob Taylor 1,979 26.47% | |Judy Davis176 2.35% | | ||

| |Kim Cail 1,085 14.65% | |Bruce Alan Fage 1,480 19.98% | |Darryl Whetter 202 2.73% | | ||

| |Andrew Kernohan 753 11.37% | |Mary Dee MacPherson 681 10.29% | |James Dessart 92 1.39% | |David Raymond Amos 13 0.20% ||

| |Wayne Fiander 2,715 30.62% || |John MacDonell 4,712 53.13% | |Malcolm A. MacKay 1,237 13.95% | |Michael Hartlan 204 2.30% | | ||

| |Jim Harpell 2,248 28.64% | |Ron Chisholm 1,674 21.32% | |Barton Cutten 217 2.76% | | || |Jamie Muir |}

Central Halifax

|- | |Sean Phillips 1,720 22.09% || |Howard Epstein 4,216 54.15% | |Peter Verner 1,481 19.02% | |Christopher Harborne 369 4.74% | | ||

| |Bill Black 2,724 37.45% || |Leonard Preyra 3,054 42.03% | |Devin Maxwell 1,181 16.25% | |Nick Wright 307 4.23% | | |

| |Mary Ann McGrath 2,450 26.86% | |Linda Power 3,040 33.33% || |Diana Whalen 3,404 37.32% | |Sheila Richardson 307 3.37% | | ||

| |Bruce MacCharles 1,649 23.13% || |Graham Steele 4,172 58.51% | |Cecil MacDougall 1,055 14.80% | |Kris MacLellan 254 3.56% | | ||

| |Andrew Black 1,330 18.17% || |Maureen MacDonald 4,438 60.62% | |Errol Gaum 1,220 16.66% | |Amanda Myers 333 4.55% | | || |Maureen MacDonald |}

Suburban Halifax

|- || |Len Goucher 4,090 42.22% | |John Buckland 2,019 20.84% | |Francis MacKenzie 3,286 33.92% | |Mary McLaughlan 292 3.01% | | ||

| |Bruce Cooke 2,690 32.08% || |Michèle Raymond 4,151 49.51% | |Jim Hoskins 1,281 15.28% | |Rebecca Mosher 262 3.13% | | ||

| |Mat Whynott 3,178 36.05% | |Pam Streeter 1,766 20.03% | |Scott Cleghorn 167 1.89% | | ||

| |Steve Craig 2,499 30.42% || |Dave Wilson 4,477 54.50% | |David Major 1,051 12.80% | |Elizabeth Nicolson 187 2.28% | | ||

| |Jaunita Cirtwell 2,034 24.16% || |Bill Estabrooks 5,317 63.15% | |Lisa Mullin 851 10.11% | |Thomas Trappenberg 217 2.58% | | ||

| |Gary Hines 3,275 40.17% || |Percy Paris 3,782 46.39% | |Thomas Deal 909 11.15% | |William Lang 186 2.28% | | || |Gary Hines |}

Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore

|- | |Sheila McKeand 1,788 20.63% || |Darrell Dexter 5,327 61.46% | |Stephen Beehan 1,347 15.54% | |Michael McFadden 206 2.38% | | ||

| |Don McIver 1,201 18.93% || |Kevin Deveaux 4,086 64.40% | |Brian Churchill 903 14.23% | |Beverly Woodfield 155 2.44% | | ||

| |Jim Cormier 2,942 33.27% || |Joan Massey 3,822 43.22% | |Tracey Devereaux 1,842 20.83% | |Elizabeth Perry 238 2.69% | | ||

| |Troy Myers 1,895 27.46% || |Trevor Zinck 3,414 49.47% | |Ian Murray 1,365 19.78% | |Alex Donaldson 227 3.29% | | ||

| |Tim Olive 3,041 32.52% || |Marilyn More 4,493 48.05% | |Brian Hiltz 1,509 16.14% | |Daniel Melvin 308 3.29% | | ||

| |Sid Prest 2,871 40.80% | |Judith Cabrita 746 10.60% | |Elizabeth van Dreunen 188 2.67% | | ||

| |Dwayne Provo 1,620 36.83% | |Douglas Sparks 843 19.17% || |Keith Colwell 1,853 42.13% | |David Farrell 82 1.86% | | || |Keith Colwell |}

Central Nova

|- || |Angus MacIsaac 4,629 48.28% | |Andrew MacDonald 1,827 19.06% | |Danny MacIsaac 2,953 30.80% | |Judy Dowden 179 1.87% | | ||

| |Jim Boudreau 2,540 37.51% | |David Horton 1,379 20.36% | |Marike Finlay-de Monchy 88 1.30% | | ||

| |Danny MacGillivray 2,354 31.70% | |Troy MacCulloch 1,057 14.24% | |Samuel M. Clark 93 1.25% | |Dennis Tate 20 0.27% ||

| |Sue Uhren 2,654 35.31% || |Clarrie MacKinnon 2,761 36.73% | |Danny Walsh 2,000 26.61% | |John A. Clark 102 1.36% | | ||

| |Ronald Baillie 2,584 33.99% || |Charlie Parker 4,173 54.89% | |Sandy MacKay 698 9.18% | |Douglas Corbett 147 1.93% | | || |Charlie Parker |}

Cape Breton

|- | |Darren Bruckschwaiger 2,274 28.44% || |Frank Corbett 3,490 43.65% | |Laura Lee MacDonald 2,152 26.92% | |Frances Oomen 79 0.99% | | ||

| |Russell MacDonald 2,195 25.83% | |Fred Tilley 1,869 21.99% | |Mark Doucet 125 1.47% | | ||

| |Todd Marsman 855 12.07% || |Gordie Gosse 4,315 60.92% | |Mel Crowe 1,794 25.33% | |Chris Milburn 119 1.68% | | ||

| |Scott Boyd 3,261 32.36% | |Jamie Crane 2,160 21.43% || |Manning MacDonald 4,383 43.50% | |Stephen Doucet 273 2.71% | | ||

| |Terry Crawley 1,344 15.28% | |Dave LeBlanc 2,488 28.28% | |Michael Milburn 236 2.68% | | ||

| |Mark Bettens 2,074 26.85% | |Myrtle Campbell 2,234 28.93% || |David Wilson 3,327 43.08% | |Todd Pettigrew 88 1.14% | | ||

| |Tim Murphy 1,342 12.77% | |Mary MacLennan 1,627 15.49% | |John Gibson 133 1.27% | | ||

| |John Greene 2,268 40.45% | |Mary Pat Cude 529 9.43% || |Michel Samson 2,722 48.55% | |Noreen Hartlen 88 1.57% | | ||

| |Joan O'Liari 755 11.94% | |Gerald Sampson 2,272 35.94% | |Michelle Smith 173 2.74% | |Stemer MacLeod 120 1.90% || |Gerald Sampson |}

Opinion polls

A March 2006 poll by Corporate Research Associates asked voters who they would prefer as premier, 36 per cent of respondents picked Premier Rodney MacDonald, compared to 23 per cent for Darrell Dexter and 16 per cent for Francis MacKenzie. The same poll showed the Progressive Conservatives in the lead with 36 percent of voters compared to 29 percent for the New Democrats and 27 percent for the Liberals.

Notes

References

References

1. (May 13, 2006). "Nova Scotia vote called for June 13". CBC News.
2. (June 14, 2006). "Tories win minority, lose two seats". CBC News.
3. (June 2, 2006). "Parties & Leaders - Francis MacKenzie". CBC News.