Cape Breton--Canso

The riding of Cape Breton--Canso stretches across a vast swath of eastern Nova Scotia, covering approximately 9,400 square kilometres. It takes in the southern, western, and eastern coasts of Cape Breton Island — including the communities of Glace Bay, New Waterford, Dominion, Louisbourg, Inverness, and Cheticamp — as well as mainland territory encompassing Port Hawkesbury, Mulgrave, the town of Canso, and eastern Guysborough County. The riding had a population of roughly 75,200 in 2011.

Candidates

Rodger Cuzner (Liberal) — The incumbent MP, first elected in 2000 in the former riding of Bras d'Or--Cape Breton. Born and raised in Glace Bay, Cuzner holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Kinetics from Saint Francis Xavier University. Before entering politics, he worked as recreation director for the Town of Dominion and later as special events director for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. By 2011, he was seeking his fifth consecutive term and was well established as a constituency-focused representative with deep roots in the industrial Cape Breton communities.

Derrick Clarence Kennedy (Conservative) — Kennedy carried the Conservative banner in Cape Breton--Canso, a riding where the party historically struggled to gain traction against entrenched Liberal support.

Marney Jeanne Simmons (NDP) — Simmons ran as the NDP candidate, seeking to capitalize on the broader national NDP surge and the party's strong showing in the concurrent Nova Scotia provincial political landscape, where the NDP held government under Premier Darrell Dexter.

Glen Carabin (Green Party) — Carabin represented the Green Party in Cape Breton--Canso.

About the Riding

Cape Breton--Canso has been defined by the rise and decline of the coal and steel industries that once sustained industrial Cape Breton. The closure of coal mines across Glace Bay, New Waterford, and surrounding communities over the latter half of the twentieth century reshaped the region's economy and demographics. By 2011, the Swiss mining consortium Xstrata held the development rights to the Donkin coal deposit, one of the last remaining reserves, though production had not yet begun. The 1992 federal cod moratorium devastated the traditional groundfish fishery, though the lobster and snow crab fisheries remained productive and economically important along both the Cape Breton and mainland coasts.

The riding's Scottish heritage runs deep, with close to 30,000 residents identifying Scottish ancestry. The Cheticamp area on the western coast is home to a vibrant Acadian francophone community. Tourism plays a growing role, with the Cabot Trail, the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, and the Celtic music tradition drawing visitors to the island.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality, which encompasses the former cities and towns of industrial Cape Breton, had experienced persistent population decline and higher-than-average unemployment. Health care, through the Cape Breton District Health Authority, was one of the largest employers. The riding was a traditional Liberal bastion in federal politics, and Cuzner's personal popularity reinforced that advantage heading into 2011.