Quick take: Liberal Keith Colwell has represented the area since 2003.
READ MORE: All our Nova Scotia Election 2017 coverage
Candidates
Liberal: Colwell is the longtime Liberal MLA for Preston-Dartmouth and the previous riding of Preston. Colwell was fisheries, aquaculture, and agriculture minister under the Liberal government. He was previously the MLA for Eastern Shore and was also a Halifax Regional Councillor for several years.
Progressive Conservative: Irvine Carvery is the former chair of the Halifax Regional School Board and is widely recognized for his work as president of the Africville Geneaology Society. Under his tenure, the society received an apology for the city’s demolition of the community of Africville in the 1960s. Carvery has previously run for municipal, provincial, and federal politics but never won. In 2008, he ran for the nomination for the federal NDP but lost to Megan Leslie.
NDP: Shelley Fashan is a founding member of the first Nova Scotia Arts Council, the Nova Scotia Mass Choir, and the African Nova Scotian Music Association, according to her bio. She was the first African Nova Scotian woman to serve on several organizations. She works in the Department of Health. She ran for municipal office in the 2016 election but lost to councillor David Hendsbee.
Green: The Green candidate in this riding is Aaron Alexander.
Riding background
History: Colwell won the 2013 election with 58.39 per cent of the vote. Prior to his election in 2003, the riding elected candidates from the three major parties. Before 2012 Preston was a protected riding, created to increase the chances that an African Nova Scotian was in the legislature. However, in a controversial move the NDP government forced an electoral boundaries commission to end the protected status. In January, an appeal court ruled that the process used to change the riding was unconstitutional. Despite that, Premier Stephen McNeil said another election under the same boundaries is “legitimate.”
Boundaries: The riding includes the historically important African Nova Scotian communities of East Preston, North Preston, and Cherrybrook as well as Lake Major, Lake Echo, and parts of Westphal and Mineville.
Demographics: The riding includes a diverse population of wealthy residents in the suburbs and low income people in more rural areas. It’s a primarily residential riding.
Comments