Sydney—Victoria

Sydney—Victoria is a federal riding on Cape Breton Island in northeastern Nova Scotia, encompassing the urban core of Sydney within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the entirety of rural Victoria County to the north. The riding takes in Sydney’s downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods, extends north through the communities along the Bras d’Or Lake, and reaches to the northern tip of the island including the village of Baddeck and the gateway to the Cabot Trail.

Candidates

Mark Eyking (Liberal) — Born in Sydney, Eyking was first elected in 2000 and was seeking his fifth term. Educated at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, he had been a farmer for over twenty years before entering politics, expanding the family farm from seventy acres to over a thousand acres of owned and rented farmland, growing vegetables such as broccoli and lettuce, and operating greenhouses, beef cattle, and egg production. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and later as chair of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Cecil Clarke (Conservative) — Clarke was a high-profile challenger who represented the provincial riding of Cape Breton North in the Nova Scotia legislature from 2001 to 2011 as a Progressive Conservative. He held several prominent cabinet portfolios including Economic Development, Energy, and Justice, and served as Attorney General. Clarke resigned his provincial seat on March 25, 2011, to contest the federal election.

Kathy MacLeod (NDP) — MacLeod ran as the NDP candidate in Sydney—Victoria in 2011.

Chris Milburn (Green Party) — Milburn is an emergency room and family physician practising in Cape Breton who ran as the Green Party candidate.

About the Riding

Sydney—Victoria spans two contrasting landscapes: the post-industrial urban centre of Sydney and the tourism-driven rural communities of Victoria County. Sydney was once home to one of North America’s largest steel mills, but the closure of the Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO) in 2001 and the wind-down of the Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO)—which ceased to exist on December 31, 2009—left the region grappling with economic transition. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality had a population of roughly 97,000 in 2011, though it had been declining for decades. Victoria County, by contrast, thrives on tourism centred around the world-famous Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and the scenic Bras d’Or Lake. Baddeck is home to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. Health care is a major employer, with the Cape Breton Regional Hospital serving as the island’s primary medical facility. Heading into 2011, local concerns included economic diversification after the collapse of coal and steel, health care delivery, outmigration of young people, and environmental remediation of the Sydney Tar Ponds.