RESERVE MINES, N.S. — The highway in Reserve Mines, N.S., – located between Glace Bay and Sydney – appears to have an equal amount of red and blue election signs lining the roadway.
This may mean there’s an engaged voter base in the newly-created riding of Sydney-Glace Bay, with a variety of issues that are top-of-mind for voters.
“(I’m) probably looking at housing,” said one voter at Sydney’s Mayflower Mall. “The cost-of-living crisis is pretty unsubstantial right now.”
“Oh, health care, big time,” answered another voter when asked about top election priorities.
Cape Breton University political scientist Tom Urbaniak agreed that voter interest seems high both in Sydney-Glace Bay and in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish.
“This has the feeling of being a generational election, that the results of this election will sort of set a path or set a course,” Urbaniak said on Thursday.
Urbaniak said, while there isn’t any hard polling data, the race in Sydney-Glace Bay appears to be a fairly close one.
However, he feels Liberal incumbent Mike Kelloway is still the favourite to win.
“So, I don’t think that the national Liberal headquarters right now are worried about this riding,” Urbaniak said. “If they are, then we might see the Liberal leader in Cape Breton next week.”
Along with the Conservatives Anna Manley, candidates are also on the ballot for the NDP (Kim Losier), the Peoples Party of Canada (Jeff Evely), the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada (Nik Boisvert), the Canadian Future Party (Chris Gallant), the Libertarians (Michael Pittman), along with one Independent (Joe Ward).
The Green candidates in both ridings that include Cape Breton have withdrawn.
Urbaniak said while there are multiple strong campaigns on the ground, he doesn’t envision a scenario where the Liberals win a majority and lose Sydney-Glace Bay.
“If we’re watching election coverage and once the polls close we see Sydney-Glace Bay tilting towards the Conservatives, this is going to tell me that something is brewing nationally,” he predicted.
Meanwhile, with national pride currently a hot topic, voters were happy to weigh in on Thursday with what they want out of their next government.
“Just (someone who) cares the most about the everyday Canadian being able to afford to live in Canada,” one voter said.
“I don’t actually know who I’m going to vote for until I actually get to the voter booth,” added another.
Advance polling starts on Friday, ahead of the April 28 federal election date.
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