Quick take: Long-time MLA and cabinet minister Michel Samson is the incumbent.
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Candidates
Liberal: Samson has been the MLA for the area since 1998. He held several cabinet posts under the Liberal government including trade and energy minister. He also served as interim Liberal leader from 2006-07.
Progressive Conservative: Alana Paon has volunteered as a youth business mentor with the Department of Justice and held a position as account executive for the Business Retention and Expansion Program.
NDP: Larry Keating is an instructor at the Marine Institute at the Nova Scotia Community College Strait Campus in Port Hawkesbury. He has also been a ships officer in the Canadian Merchant Marine and recently ran for District 2 in the Richmond County municipal election.
Riding background
History: Samson won the riding in 2013 with 56.51 per cent of the vote. Cape Breton-Richmond was a newly established riding in the 2013 election. It was created in 2012, during a boundary redrawing which caused controversy as it eliminated the three protected Acadian ridings, one of which included Richmond – Samson’s original riding. In January, an appeal court ruled that the process that led to Richmond’s dissolution was unconstitutional. Despite that Premier Stephen McNeil said another election under the same boundaries is “legitimate.”
Boundaries: The riding starts at Point Tupper on Cape Breton and continues up the eastern side of the island along the Atlantic coast to west of the Mira River. It includes the Chapel Island Reserve, as well as St. Peter’s and Arichat.
Demographics: Tourism makes up part of the district, especially in the areas of Arichat and southern parts of the riding. Manufacturing firms can also been found in the riding. The district also has many rural communities.
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