Central Nova race starting to take shape
Two candidates have been announced for the race in Central Nova in the 2021 federal election which will be held Sept. 20.
As expected, shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the election, Liberal incumbent MP Sean Fraser announced that he is seeking re-election. Since then, the NDP announced that Betsy MacDonald will be running for the NDP. MacDonald previously challenged Fraser in 2019.
As of press deadline, no candidates had been announced for either the Conservative or Green parties. Representatives of both parties said they expect candidates to be announced in the near future.
Liberal candidate Fraser, in addition to his role as MP for Central Nova, serves as Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance. Fraser was first elected in 2015 and, prior to his current Parliamentary Secretary portfolio, he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Fraser has been one of the core members of Trudeau’s COVID-19 recovery team, and has helped to shape policies like CERB, CRB and the wage subsidy.
NDP candidate MacDonald is a 36-year-old community organizer, mother and musician. She was born and raised in Antigonish, graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 2007, and earned an MA from Brock University. For 15 years, she led and worked on projects concerned with community development, gender-based violence, youth leadership, social enterprise, poverty reduction and food security. She says she is passionate about advancing bold climate action that creates good jobs and builds sustainable, livable communities. MacDonald also works with the Nova Scotia NDP Caucus as a communications and outreach officer.