HALIFAX – A political sociologist said the Liberal sweep through Nova Scotia may mean good things for the province.
Howard Ramos, a sociology professor at Dalhousie University, said a Liberal majority government was a big surprise.
“I don’t think anybody could have definitely said they would win by such a big margin and unseat so many strong candidates in Atlantic Canada,” he said.
Ramos said the results were a combination of voters wanting to remove Stephen Harper from the country’s top job and support for Justin Trudeau.
“Trudeau certainly came to Halifax quite a bit in the last week of the election. He certainly was active in campaigning. But at the same time, when you have the unseating of people like Peter Stoffer, who is an incumbent since the 1990s and who was polling way ahead in all the polls leading to the election, there was something also going on. As much as it was a vote for Trudeau, I think a lot of people were voting strategically,” he said.
Ramos said he expects Trudeau to tap an MP in Atlantic Canada for a federal cabinet position, though he did not have any predictions.
“It’s really hard to see how big or how small Cabinet is going to be. That’s something to watch for in the next couple of weeks. There definitely should be some representation in portfolios across the Atlantic provinces,” he said.
“Atlantic Canada is largely seen as pushing a red tide. I think Atlantic Canada will play a more prominently in federal politics,” he said.
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