South Shore—St. Margarets, NS — 2015 Federal Election Results Map
South Shore—St. Margarets — 2015 Election Results
📌 The Canadian federal electoral district of South Shore—St. Margarets was contested in the 2015 election.
🏆 Bernadette Jordan, the Liberal candidate, won the riding with 30,045 votes (56.9% of the vote).
🥈 The runner-up was Richard Clark (Conservative) with 11,905 votes (22.6%), defeated by a margin of 18,140 votes.
📊 Other notable candidates: Alex Godbold (NDP-New Democratic Party, 17%).
Riding information
Auto generated. Flag an issue.South Shore—St. Margarets
South Shore—St. Margarets traces Nova Scotia's Atlantic coastline from the western fringes of the Halifax Regional Municipality down through the counties of Lunenburg, Queens, and Shelburne. The riding encompasses the historic UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, the service centre of Bridgewater, and the fishing port of Shelburne, along with dozens of smaller coastal villages.
Candidates
Bernadette Jordan (Liberal) — Jordan grew up in Middle LaHave, Nova Scotia, after her family relocated from Montreal. She held a Bachelor of Arts in political science from St. Francis Xavier University. Before seeking office, she spent eight years as a development officer for the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore, raising funds for health care services in the region. She won the Liberal nomination by a slim margin of twenty-two votes over Jennifer Naugler, the local school board chair.
Richard Clark (Conservative) — Clark was a young political staffer who had worked as a Conservative Party organizer and spent time as a policy aide to ACOA Minister Rob Moore. He sought to hold the seat for the Conservatives after incumbent MP Gerald Keddy announced in May 2014 that he would not seek re-election.
Alex Godbold (NDP) — Godbold was a Lunenburg County schoolteacher. The NDP had finished a competitive second behind Keddy in 2011, and Godbold hoped to build on that showing in a riding now lacking an incumbent.
Richard Biggar (Green Party) — Biggar represented the Green Party in the contest.
About the Riding
The South Shore economy has long revolved around the Atlantic fishery, with lobster being the dominant catch. Lunenburg's waterfront, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, anchored both the fishing fleet and a tourism industry that attracted visitors from across the world. Clearwater Seafoods maintained operations in the region, and Canada's largest secondary fish-processing facility operated out of Lunenburg. Bridgewater, the largest town, served as a retail and services hub for the surrounding rural communities. The riding's seasonal economy — dependent on fishing, tourism, and forestry — made employment insurance policy a perennial concern. Gerald Keddy had held the seat for the Conservatives since 1997, and his retirement in 2014 opened a genuinely competitive contest. Infrastructure spending, health care access in rural communities, and support for the fishing industry were the dominant federal issues heading into October 2015.
