Nova Scotia election riding results: Colchester North

PC Tom Taggart has been elected for the riding of Colchester North.

Liberal cabinet minister Karen Casey, who was first elected as a PC member in 2006, did not run in the 2021 election.

Riding background

The riding encompasses the northern half of Colchester County. Its boundaries include Tatamagouche, Debert and Great Village.

Fishing, forestry and farming are three main industries in this riding, with tourist attractions like the Bay of Fundy, the Anna Swan Museum and Balmoral Grist Mill Museum.

Candidates

Liberal: Merlyn Smith

• Operations manager and health and safety officer for a “Nova Scotia retail gas and convenience company”
• Has been a member of the Valley-Kempton and District Fire Brigade for 27 years, and is currently captain
• Has been president of the Colchester Fire Fighters Association for the past 22 years

Progressive Conservative: Tom Taggart

• Spent more than 12 years in municipal government and serves on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
• Became a spokesperson for the area after the 2020 shooting spree in Portapique

NDP: Sean Foley

• Worked for 30 years with Nova Scotia Health Authority’s environmental services department in Truro
• Has been a volunteer member of the Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade for 31 years
• Vice-president of CUPE Local 8920 and the northern zone vice-president for CUPE

Green: Ivan Drouin

• Spent 30 years in health care as a psychologist and addictions/mental health director
• A founding member of Living Earth Council, an organization promoting sustainable change in Truro and surrounding communities
• Previously ran for the Greens in the 2020 Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River by-election

Atlantica: Stephan Sante

History

Karen Casey was elected as a Progressive Conservative in the 2006 election. She crossed the floor to join the Liberal caucus in 2011 and was re-elected in 2013.

During her time as an MLA, she was deputy premier, Minister of Education and Minister of Finance. Casey announced in January of this year that she will not be running.