Liberal, Tory, same old story? Not really, say some
The personal popularity of Liberal winner Lenore Zann, combined with the rise of social media and a strong showing by the Greens mean the riding of Cumberland-colchester is changing. Even so, the Conservatives have a viable future ahead of them
TRURO, N.S. – Scott Lockhart is a unique man in the riding of Cumberland Colchester.
He is the only federal riding president locally to have swung elections for both the Conservatives and Liberals. A former Conservative president who quit in the Stephen Harper years, Lockhart helped both Bill Casey and Lenore Zann win for the Liberals.
“People here were always progressive Stanfield-and-buchanan conservatives, including myself, and I don’t think people really embraced the merger back with the Reform Party,” said Lockhart. “Now we’ve proven this riding can be Liberal.”
Lockhart said Zann worked hard during the campaign, travelling across a geographically large riding to meet with voters. This included door-to-door canvassing, attending local fundraisers and two rallies with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among other events.
He recalled one fundraising event Zann attended in Springhill on Oct. 19, staying until 1:30 a.m.
Zann’s intensive ground game paid off on Oct. 21, as she won 16,672 votes to Conservative Scott Armstrong’s 16,219, a difference just 453 votes.
“She’s a hard worker and I think that hard work paid off,” said Lockhart. “It came down more to the candidates in this area, people resonated with Lenore.”
Zann was the local MLA for Truro-bible Hill-millbrookSalmon River and resigned to seek the federal Liberal nomination in June.
Lockhart himself ran as a provincial Liberal in last year’s Cumberland South by-election. In a twist of fate, he lost to the NDP’S Larry Duchesne, who was the party’s federal candidate in this election.
As the losing candidate, Lockhart understood how Zann’s Conservative rival Armstrong felt the day after the election.
“I know he’s not having a good day today,” said Lockhart.
However, Lockhart felt the Liberals had a strong future in Cumberland-colchester as they offered a “bigger tent,” to voters than Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives.
At the same time, he felt the Green Party of Canada had a bright future in the riding, after their candidate Jason Blanch came third in the election. He finished with 6,015 votes, and ahead of the NDP.
It is a view shared by Armstrong, who said “if you look at the performance of the Green Party, that’s the best they’ve ever done.”
In Lockhart’s view, tourism and clean energy development will be the future in Cumberland-colchester’s communities. Even if Greens don’t win elections, their impact on government policies will still be felt.
“People here were always progressive Stanfield-andBuchanan conservatives, including myself, and I don’t think people really embraced the merger back with the Reform Party.” Scott Lockhart