Nova Scotia has made history by electing the first NDP government east of Ontario. But why have voters in the Maritimes been reluctant to elect the NDP in the past, and what has changed?
Although the NDP may have deep roots in the Maritimes, according to Jennifer Smith, professor of political science at Dalhousie University, “prior to the last 10 years, they were pretty thin roots.”
The NDP started off in Nova Scotia (as it did in other parts of the country) as the CCF before becoming the Nova Scotia NDP in 1961. But in the decades that followed, the party’s main supporters were unions, which were weak themselves.
That fact, coupled with an existing conservative culture in the Maritimes, left the NDP struggling to gain momentum. “In Atlantic Canada, you have the oldest, most conservative political culture in the country,” says Nelson Wiseman, professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
Last decade
A little more than a decade ago, fortunes started to change for the NDP. While Alexa McDonough made gains during her provincial leadership tenure until 1994, cuts to transfer payments to the provinces by the federal Liberals made the NDP look like a real alternative.
In the 1997 federal election, the NDP made a breakthrough in the Maritimes, winning a majority of seats in the province. “The Liberals were unpopular. People turned to the NDP,” says James Bickerton, professor of political science at St. Francis Xavier University.
Provincially, the party has made gains outside of urban areas, but still has its foundation of support in places like Halifax and Dartmouth. These urban areas of Nova Scotia have become even more important.
“Halifax is the growing part of Nova Scotia,” says Bickerton. “It accounts for 40 per cent of the population, there’s a high level of education and fairly young [population] when compared to the rest of the province.”
With a growing urban populace, Atlantic Canada has been moving away from the right, helping the New Democrats. “The NDP is becoming more established and Atlantic Canada is becoming more modern,” says Wiseman.
“The longer you have those two together, the closer they move to each other,” he says.
Wiseman sees Nova Scotia NDP leader Darrell Dexter in the same light. Since he’s been around for so long, “he doesn’t come across as some wild-eyed Liberal.”
Darrell Dexter
Dexter has worked to make the NDP more mainstream, similar to the way the UK’s New Labour party became accepted into the mainstream under Tony Blair. “His strategy has been to portray the NDP as a moderate left-of-centre party,” says Smith.
He also has a longer history with voters than his Grit counterpart. Liberal Stephen McNeil is in his first election as party leader and, Smith says, “he has to get acquainted with Nova Scotia, whereas Dexter has been leader for eight years.”
Circumstances have worked against Nova Scotia premier and Progressive Conservative leader Rodney MacDonald. “The premier has had a tough three years,” says Smith.
“He didn’t have a whole lot of experience when he took over the party,” she continues, “And with the Atlantic Accord, he didn’t do a bad job on that, but it was messy.”
This has all helped Dexter. “He has presented himself as a regular guy, serious, sober.”
Bickerton concurs. “There was an article that called him a “˜conservative progressive,’ which might be a good description … I wouldn’t expect to see any major changes with Dexter as premier. He’s going to be very focused on managing the economy.”
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.