Throughout the Nova Scotia election, the Progressive Conservatives have sought to capitalize on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unpopularity and dissatisfaction with the federal Liberal Party.
PC Leader Tim Houston has repeatedly accused Nova Scotia Liberal Party Leader Zach Churchill of being “beholden to” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Federalist Party.
One area where this tactic could bear fruit for the PCs is southwestern Nova Scotia, where concern and anger are growing. Many say illegal, out-of-season lobster fishing is taking place. There was little response from Ottawa.
And that’s a problem for the Liberals in County Clare, who are trying to keep the party’s stronghold from slipping away.
The area, which stretches along St. Mary’s Bay in southwestern Nova Scotia, is home to several Acadian communities that are ardent supporters of the Liberal Party. It’s been 31 years since Guy LeBlanc lost to Wayne Gaudet in 1993 and the region became the seat of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Gaudet became a cabinet minister, a position he held for the next 20 years.
The electoral map was redrawn to include Mr Digby and new Liberal candidate Gordon Wilson, but it had no negative impact on the party’s fortunes in 2013, and with Mr Wilson retiring from politics, the old boundaries were redrawn at the last election. I never went back.
In the 2021 vote, Liberal candidate Ronnie LeBlanc, a local fisherman and former city ward mayor, won the seat by just 301 votes, a margin far greater than the party had won in previous elections. It was small.
Mr LeBlanc admits he is fighting to retain his seat despite being challenged by a new PC candidate and a New Democratic Party architecture student who is not directly affiliated with the riding. .
“People are very concerned because they are monitoring thousands and thousands of pounds of weight. [of lobster] It’s being removed from St. Mary’s Bay,” LeBlanc recently told a Radio-Canada reporter.
“We don’t know what kind of impact it will have at the start of the season.”
The season is scheduled to open in the region on Monday, the day before the Nov. 26 election.
LeBlanc said the current state of the lobster fishery is one of the most commonly heard issues in the region, where no other industry contributes more to the local economy.
“Health care, housing, cost of living, and locally lobster fishing are big issues. [on] It’s the door,” LeBlanc said.
“The problem for us is [federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans] Is it not possible to monitor the situation or enforce the law? On the state side, we feel there needs to be more enforcement when it comes to purchasers. ”
LeBlanc’s party advocates for a crackdown on buyers who break the law, and plans to lobby Ottawa for a royal commission into illegal fishing.
Meanwhile, DFO is pushing back against criticism from the commercial fishing sector that enforcement is insufficient.
Concerns about cost of living and illegal fishing
PC candidate Ryan Robichaud shares some of LeBlanc’s concerns.
Although this is the first time Robichaud has put his name on a ballot, the 31-year-old community development official has been a member of the PC Party since he was 13 years old.
Now that her name is on the lawn sign, Robichaud said she’s applying the lessons she learned volunteering to other campaigns.
“People are excited to have a new generation of representation in our community,” he said. “They have seen the progress the PC Government has made over the past three years and want to see that growth in County Clare as well.”
He agreed with LeBlanc on two major issues in riding: cost of living and concerns about illegal fishing.
Robichaud said people he spoke to want the state to put more pressure on the federal government to crack down on the problem.
“Local fishermen and even community members want a voice at the table. So if we form another PC government, we will give local voices at that table. We want to be able to express the concerns and opinions of the people here.”The way we ride.” ”
LeBlanc acknowledged that the Trudeau government’s unpopularity, along with criticism of enforcement, has not helped his campaign.
“The unpopularity of the federal government is definitely holding us back a little bit, but ultimately we’re going to elect the Nova Scotia government,” he said.
The NDP said Clare’s candidate, Dre Taylor, was not available for an interview.
