Central Nova

Central Nova covers Pictou County and parts of Antigonish and Guysborough Counties in northeastern Nova Scotia. The riding takes in the Pictou County towns of New Glasgow, Stellarton, Westville, Trenton, and Pictou along the Northumberland Strait shore, extends east to the university town of Antigonish, and south through the rural Municipality of the District of St. Mary's.

Candidates

Sean Fraser (Liberal) — Raised in the Pictou County village of Merigomish, Fraser earned a science degree from St. Francis Xavier University, a law degree from Dalhousie University, and a master's in public international law from Leiden University in the Netherlands, where he studied under a judge of the International Court of Justice. He had been practising commercial litigation with a major Canadian law firm before seeking the Liberal nomination.

Fred DeLorey (Conservative) — A Nova Scotia native, DeLorey had built a career in Conservative Party operations. He served as the party's Director of Communications during the 2011 election, acting as national campaign spokesperson, and later became Director of Political Operations. He was also an adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Atlantic Canadian issues. DeLorey won the nomination to succeed Peter MacKay, who had announced in May 2015 that he would not seek re-election after holding the seat since 1997.

Ross Landry (NDP) — A retired RCMP officer with 34 years of service, Landry had served in the Nova Scotia legislature representing Pictou Centre. He was appointed Nova Scotia's Minister of Justice and Attorney General in 2009, a role in which he helped bring a provincial correctional facility to Pictou County and introduced cyberbullying legislation.

David Hachey (Green Party) — Hachey represented the Green Party in the contest.

Alexander J. MacKenzie (Independent) — MacKenzie ran as an independent candidate.

About the Riding

Central Nova had been a Conservative stronghold for decades — Peter MacKay and his father Elmer held the seat or its predecessor almost continuously from 1971. MacKay's decision not to run again opened the riding to genuine competition for the first time in years. The Pictou County towns that form the riding's population base grew historically around coal mining, steel, and manufacturing. The Northern Pulp mill on Abercrombie Point remained a major employer but was at the centre of a long-running environmental dispute over its effluent discharge into Boat Harbour, which had contaminated lands near the Pictou Landing First Nation for decades. A pipeline rupture in June 2014 that spilled millions of litres of untreated effluent intensified calls for action, and in 2015 the provincial government passed the Boat Harbour Act requiring the mill to find an alternative. St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish is a significant employer and economic driver in the eastern part of the riding.