Cape Breton-Canso (Nova Scotia) 55/338

 Cape Breton-Canso (Nova Scotia)

Today we're in our first Nova Scotia riding, Cape Breton—Canso!

Cape Breton—Canso has existed as a riding since 1997, but has changed names twice, from Bras d'Or, to Bras d'Or—Cape Breton, to the current name in 2004. The population centers are Glace Bay (17,556 in 2016), Port Hawkesbury (3,004 in 2016), and Guysborough County (7,625 in 2016, shared with Central Nova). Most of the riding is on Cape Breton Island.

Politically, there have been some really interesting trends here. The seat was picked up in 1997 by the NDP, when they carried 6/11 Nova Scotia seats. However, in 2000 it easily swung 20 points to the Liberals who have held it since. The seat swung 30 points to the Liberals in 2015 and 35 points away in 2019 to be within 5 points of the Conservatives picking up the seat. The seat is currently held by Liberal MP Mike Kelloway.

The 2017 provincial election was a pre-cursor to the 2019 federal result. The riding went from a PC/Liberal two and two split to three PC's and one Liberal that barely hung on after winning by 65 points the election before. Sound familiar? As the Nova Scotia election is in two weeks, I'll update on these provincial ridings: 338Canada is currently projecting two PC's and two Liberals, a pickup for the Liberals. In 2019, this riding was 4/11 in Nova Scotia and 44/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.8/10 - It's a pretty good name, however I'd prefer Cape Breton—Guysborough, it just makes more sense than a smaller community name.

Shape: 6.4/10 - I just wish the borders were a little less squiggly.

Individuality: 7.3/10 - I love how big the swings are, especially 2015 to 2019.

Total: 21.5/30 (71.7%)

See you tomorrow in our first Prince Edward Island riding, Cardigan!