Meet the candidates

Now that has the writ has dropped, here are the candidates (so far) for the three local ridings.

Pictou West Progressive Conservative

Karla MacFarlane was elected MLA for Pictou West in 2013. She graduated from Husson University in Maine with an associate degree in business communications. After graduating, she operated small businesses in her hometown of Pictou.

Since being elected, MacFarlane’s critic roles have included communities, culture and heritage, environment, municipal affairs, public service commission and status of women. She was nominated for the rising star award in 2015.

She received legislator of the year award in 2016 for the Springtide Collective.

NDP

Shawn McNamara is a longtime Pictou resident and community activist. He was an employee at Michelin and has raised a family of five in Pictou and now has 11 grandchildren.

McNamara has an extensive record of service with the Lobster Carnival and town council.

He has also operated a small business, Shawn’s Burger Bus, for more than 20 years.

Liberal

Ben MacLean, a resident of Abercrombie, is expected to be acclaimed at the Liberals Pictou West nomination meeting Wednesday. MacLean has a keen interest in politics and has been involved in all levels of government, most recently serving as president of the Pictou West Liberal Association and as a candidate in the 2016 municipal election. He holds a degree in political science from Athabasca University.

Pictou Centre Progressive Conservative

Pat Dunn is the incumbent MLA. He previously held the seat from 2006 to 2009. During that period, he served as Minister of Health Promotion & Protection/Sports & Recreation and was chair of the Progressive Conservative Caucus.

A former teacher, vice-principal and principal of Trenton Junior/Senior High School and vice principal of North Nova Education Centre, Dunn received his bachelor of arts, bachelor of education and master’s degree in education at Saint Francis Xavier University.

NDP

A candidate in the 2016 election for mayor of New Glasgow, Henderson Paris is known for his human rights activism and community involvement.

Paris was on council for 12 years and has served twice as deputy mayor of New Glasgow. In 1990, he founded the Run Against Racism, an awareness campaign and annual event to combat racial discrimination.

Liberal

Jeff Davis is a co-owner of social enterprise StashBelt, and recipient of the Pictou County Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2016. He is a journalist by trade with a decade’s experience covering politics at the local, national and international levels.

Pictou East Progressive Conservative

Tim Houston was elected as an MLA in the 2013 election. Since that time, he has also served as finance critic. He and his wife Carol have been married for 22 years and they have two teenagers, Paget and Zachary.

He is a certified accountant with 20 years business experience and has been a vocal opponent to what he sees as government waste.

NDP

Deborah Stiles was born and raised in Appalachia, West Virginia, but found herself moving north in 1988. A graduate of the University of Maine, she has published poems, short stories, agriculture and cooking articles, and scholarly articles in a wide variety of journals in Canada and the U.S. She is now an associate professor in humanities at Dalhousie University’s agricultural campus in Truro, and a part-time farmer.