PC Keith L. Bain has been re-elected for the riding of Victoria-The Lakes.
Bains came back to win the 2017 election after losing in the 2013 one. Meanwhile, the Liberal candidate, Nadine Bernard, was the party’s first Indigenous woman candidate.
Riding background
Includes Victoria County and part of Cape Breton County as well as the Mi’kmaw communities of Eskasoni and Wagmatcook First Nation.
The area’s major industries are fishing and tourism, as it includes the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, the Alexander Graham Bell Museum and the Gaelic College.
Candidates
Liberal: Nadine Bernard
- Grew up in the community of Waycobah
- Launched her business, Slow Cooked Dreams, which empowers low-income community members with skills to prepare healthy foods, as part of the Coady Institute’s Indigenous Women’s Community Leadership program
- Started Indigevisor Advisory and Consulting to bridge the gap between First Nations and the construction sector
- She is a project consultation officer with Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn (Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative)
Progressive Conservative: Keith Bain (incumbent)
- Held the seat from 2006 until 2013, but was narrowly defeated by Liberal Pam Eyking in the 2013 election, but ran again in 2017 and beat Eyking handily
- Currently is deputy speaker and is also a member of the house of Assembly Management Commission
NDP: Adrianna MacKinnon
- Has been an educator for 30 years
Independent: Stemer MacLeod
History
The Lakes was created before the 2003 election. The former riding of Victoria was traditionally a Liberal district until Keith Bain took the seat for the Tories in 2006.
Pam Eyking won in 2013 with 39 per cent of the vote, beating Bain by only 303 votes. PC incumbent Keith Bain retook the seat handily in 2017.