Sydney—Victoria

Sydney—Victoria takes in the urban centre of Sydney and the surrounding communities of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, together with the highlands and coastal villages of Victoria County on Cape Breton Island’s northern tip. The riding extends from the industrial waterfront of Sydney Harbour to the shores of Bras d’Or Lake and the dramatic scenery of the Cabot Trail.

Candidates

Jaime Battiste (Liberal) — A member of Potlotek First Nation who resided in Eskasoni, Battiste earned a law degree from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University and a degree in Mi’kmaq Studies from Cape Breton University. Before seeking office, he worked as an assistant professor, served as legal adviser to the Mi’kmaq Grand Council, and led the development of the Treaty Education initiative in Nova Scotia. He announced his candidacy in April 2019 and won the Liberal nomination in July.

Eddie Orrell (Conservative) — A physiotherapist by profession, Orrell had represented the provincial riding of Northside-Westmount in the Nova Scotia legislature since 2011 as a Progressive Conservative MLA. He resigned his provincial seat in July 2019 to seek the federal Conservative nomination, which he won the same month.

Jodi McDavid (NDP) — McDavid was an educator and small business owner based in Cape Breton who served the non-profit and university sectors. During the campaign, she advocated for green energy jobs on Cape Breton Island and called for a royal commission to examine the federal equalization payment formula.

Lois Foster (Green Party) — Foster ran as the Green Party candidate in the riding.

Other candidates included Archie MacKinnon (Independent), Kenzie MacNeil (Independent), and Randy Joy (Veterans Coalition Party).

About the Riding

Sydney—Victoria bears the legacy of Cape Breton’s industrial era. The closure of the Sydney steel plant and the Devco coal mines left behind decades of economic restructuring and environmental remediation. The $400-million Sydney Tar Ponds cleanup, jointly funded by federal and provincial governments, was completed in 2013, transforming the contaminated site into Open Hearth Park. By 2019, Cape Breton University and its growing international student body, the Canadian Coast Guard College, and the cruise ship terminal at the Port of Sydney were among the riding’s most important economic anchors. Membertou First Nation, within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, had become a nationally recognized model of Indigenous economic development. Victoria County, to the north, depends on tourism along the Cabot Trail and around Baddeck, site of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site on the shores of Bras d’Or Lake — a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Persistent challenges in 2019 included high unemployment, outmigration of young people, physician shortages, and the need for continued federal economic development investment. The seat had been held by Liberal Mark Eyking from 2000 until he chose not to reoffer in 2019, making it one of Cape Breton’s most enduring Liberal strongholds.