The Liberals are putting up a strong showing in Nova Scotia, with CBC News projecting that the party has won eight of the province’s 11 seats while the Conservatives have taken one.
Liberal incumbent Darren Fisher, first elected to Ottawa in the 2015 election, was one of CBC’s earliest projected winners, retaining the seat of Dartmouth-Cole Harbour.
About 50 people gathered with Fisher at Colleen’s Pub in Dartmouth to celebrate his victory.
A Halifax municipal councillor from 2009 to 2015, Fisher said he’s happy to serve the people of his riding, but if he is tapped for Mark Carney’s cabinet again, his pick would be for veterans affairs.
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Canadians will vote on April 28 in an election that will determine the next prime minister. CBC News provides live coverage as the results come in with Rosemary Barton, Adrienne Arsenault, Ian Hanomansing, David Cochrane and Catherine Cullen, and featuring reporters across the country.
He served a short few months as the veterans affairs minister before Carney shuffled him out in March. He called it his dream job.
Meanwhile, Conservative incumbent Chris d’Entremont was projected to win in Acadie-Annapolis.
Speaking to supporters at a seafood restaurant in Digby, d’Entremont thanked his family, campaign team and volunteers for supporting him and helping to return him to Ottawa.
“We’ve put thousands of kilometres from one end of Acadie-Annapolis to the other,” he said.
D’Entremont said no two issues were bigger than cost of living and the fishery, where concerns have persisted about organized crime infiltrating the lobster fishery and some commercial fishermen have worried about Mi’kmaw fishers exercising their treaty rights to catch lobster outside the commercial season.
“I think we still have a lot of work to do to reel in illegal and unreported fisheries that continue to go on on our shores,” he said.
Liberal Shannon Miedema, a first-time candidate, was projected to win in Halifax. Miedema’s seat had been vacated by former Liberal MP Andy Fillmore after he announced his bid for the Halifax mayoralty last fall.
A former municipal staffer, Miedema submitted her nomination papers in November and won the nomination on March 1, one day before then prime minister Justin Trudeau called the byelection for Halifax. In the ensuing weeks, Mark Carney was named Liberal leader and a general election was called, effectively cancelling the byelection.
In South Shore-St. Margarets, Liberal Jessica Fancy-Landry — another political newcomer — was projected to win, unseating Conservative incumbent Rick Perkins.
Fancy-Landry, who has worked as a teacher and principal, won the nomination before Carney took over as Liberal leader at a time when the Conservatives appeared poised to hold on to the seat.
Her win was likely aided by the fact that the NDP did not have a candidate on the ballot in the riding.
Speaking to CBC News, Fancy-Landy said the issues on the doorstep that were top of mind for voters included the cost of living, the fishery and the threat of tariffs by the United States government.
The Liberals lost this seat in 2021, in large part because of the way the government was perceived as ignoring concerns about illegal fishing. Fancy-Landry said she’s committed to working toward rebuilding trust between the sector and her party.
She said she’s willing to be “that staunch advocate” on the issue, but she said there’s something else she’s committed to doing for the constituency.
“The thing that we were hearing the most on the phone and on the doors were people were wanting positivity and they were wanting someone to help unite a very divisive riding,” she said.
Liberal incumbent Lena Metlege Diab was projected to win in Halifax West.
Liberal Braedon Clark, a former MLA who lost his seat in November’s provincial election, was projected to win in Sackville-Bedford-Preston. That riding was previously held by Liberal Darrell Samson, who did not re-offer.
Liberal incumbent Kody Blois was projected to win the riding of Kings-Hants, a primarily rural riding.
Meanwhile, in Cape Breton, Liberal Mike Kelloway was projected to win in Sydney-Glace Bay, while fellow Liberal Jaime Battiste was projected to win Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish.
After the electoral boundaries in Cape Breton were redrawn, the two incumbents on the island both wanted to run in the new riding of Sydney-Glace Bay, but they settled the dispute just before the election call.
A member of the Eskasoni First Nation, Battiste was the first Mi’kmaw MP in Canada.
Results continue to roll in from the province’s remaining two electoral districts.
Following the last election in 2021, the Liberals held eight seats and the Conservatives held three.
An estimated 26 per cent of eligible Nova Scotia voters cast their ballots in advance polls over the Easter weekend, an increase from previous elections.
Across the country, an estimated 7.3 million votes were recorded at advance polls, according to Elections Canada, an increase of 25 per cent from the 2021 federal election. On the Friday alone, more than two million people voted — a single-day record.
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