Despite lowest vote count in decades, Nova Scotia election a ‘positive’ for NDP

NDP Leader Gary Burrill says the May provincial election marked a high note for him and, on the whole, was a “positive” for his party despite a vote count not seen in more than two decades.

“The memorable moment for us, for me, in 2017, of course, is the election,” he said in a year-end interview.

The NDP won seven seats in the 2013 election that swept them from power, ahead of the 2017 election, the party was down to five seats.

In May the party climbed back to seven seats, ousting three Liberals but losing two seats previously held by New Democrats.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia election: How the results impact each party’s bottom line

Across the province, the party’s share of the vote fell to the lowest level since 1988. And its vote count was 23 per cent lower than the result the party’s 2013 result. In real terms, that means tens of thousands of dollars less for party coffers from the per-vote subsidy, and a drop in support in rural areas along the south shore and western Nova Scotia.

In spite of those numbers, Burrill said, on the whole, he believes the party came out on top, in particular, because of the number of women who were elected. Five out of the seven MLAs in the NDP caucus are women.

“In my view, when we take the two and hold it together, the plus side is larger than the minus side,” he said. “I think we’ve come out of the election in a way that is, for me, hopeful and exciting.”

But he called the drop in rural support a “great weakness” and a “great cause for concern.”

He said the party is evaluating its performance in those regions.

WATCH: Premier Stephen McNeil looks back at 2017

7:34 Premier Stephen McNeil looks back at 2017

NDP suffered three prominent resignations in 2017

The resignations of three of the party’s top executives made waves this fall after The Coast published one of the executives’ resignation emails.

Party president Bill Matheson and vice-president Judy Swift resigned at the same time in late November. The party’s provincial secretary Mike Poworoznyk resigned a few weeks earlier. 

The email, obtained by Global News, accuses Burrill of relying on a small inner-circle to make decisions and invokes U.S. President Donald Trump.

“His focus on what he believes to be a “mission” — which might otherwise be a good characteristic — has become a liability which blinds him to his own shortcomings and hypocrisy. It has led him to inhabit a Trump-like world of alternate facts,” reads the email written by Swift.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia NDP raises questions over $750 fee to join Liberal fundraising club

Asked about the letter, Burrill said it contains “very serious allegations” that he regrets were said, but he maintains they are untrue.

“I have given this criticism lots of consideration, but I think it is a criticism without merit,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I have given this criticism lots of consideration, but I think it is a criticism without merit," he said.

“This is a very important matter to me, I think about it all the time,” Burrill said. “But it is not a matter of deep alarm to me that there are people in our party who don’t agree with all of my approaches to things, that’s part of the democratic life of our organization.”

Asked if the letter has prompted him to change the direction that he’s taking the party or the approach he’s taking, he said he’s given the allegations in the letter consideration but “with these particular criticisms, I think they are without merit and I disagree with them.”