Sackville—Bedford—Preston

Sackville—Bedford—Preston is a suburban federal riding situated on the northern fringe of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Created through the 2022 redistribution from the former Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, the riding gained the Bedford, Hammonds Plains, and Lucasville areas previously in Halifax West while shedding coastal communities such as Eastern Passage and Lawrencetown. Its population of roughly 100,000 makes it one of the larger ridings in Nova Scotia by headcount, reflecting the rapid suburban growth that has reshaped greater Halifax over the past decade.

The riding’s communities range from the established subdivisions of Lower Sackville and Middle Sackville in the north to the affluent former town of Bedford on the shores of the Bedford Basin, the rural expanses of Hammonds Plains and Fall River to the west, and the historically significant Preston townships to the east. East Preston and North Preston are home to some of Canada’s oldest and largest African Nova Scotian communities, with roots tracing back to Black Loyalists resettled after the American Revolution and refugees from the War of 1812.

Candidates

Braedon Clark (Liberal) grew up in Bedford and holds degrees from Dalhousie University and Carleton University. A former provincial MLA for Bedford South from 2021 to 2024, he previously worked as a political staffer and in communications before entering elected office. Clark has volunteered with the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia SPCA.

Dave Carroll (Conservative) is a public speaker, author, and musician best known as a member of the band Sons of Maxwell, whose 2009 viral video about a damaged guitar made international headlines. He holds a degree in political science from Carleton University and has lived in Waverley with his family for over two decades.

Isaac Wilson (NDP) is a pharmacist and small business owner in the Halifax area. He studied neuroscience at Dalhousie University before pivoting to pharmacy, and has campaigned on evidence-based approaches to healthcare, transit, and affordability.

Andre Anderson (Green Party) is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and community advocate from the Preston Township. A tenth-generation African Nova Scotian, he is the founder of Anderson Films Inc. and has spent nearly fifteen years in the film and television industry creating socially impactful content that celebrates Nova Scotia heritage.

Ryan Slaney (People’s Party) is a national and cybersecurity professional with over two decades of experience, including senior roles with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He has focused his campaign on affordability, immigration policy, and local infrastructure investment.

About the Riding

The communities of Lower Sackville and Bedford experienced intensive suburban development from the 1970s onward, driven by highway connections to both Halifax and Dartmouth, proximity to Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and large-scale housing projects by the Nova Scotia Housing Commission. Bedford, once a separate incorporated town, sits on the northwest shore of the Bedford Basin and has become one of the most desirable residential areas in the municipality. More recently, the Hammonds Plains corridor and Fall River have absorbed much of the region’s new housing stock as Halifax’s population has boomed.

The Preston communities occupy a distinctive place in Canadian history. North Preston is the largest African Nova Scotian community in the province, and the broader Preston Township—including East Preston, North Preston, Cherry Brook, and Lake Loon—represents one of the oldest continuous Black settlements in the country. The Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, located in Cherry Brook, has served as a hub for preserving and celebrating African Nova Scotian heritage since 1983.

Housing affordability and transit connectivity have been dominant local concerns heading into the 2025 election. Halifax’s suburban population exploded over the previous decade, and the regional municipality has been overhauling its planning framework through a new Regional Plan and the federal Housing Accelerator Fund to enable more infill and mixed-use development along proposed rapid transit corridors. Residents in Sackville and Bedford have pressed for better public transit links to downtown Halifax and Dartmouth, while the growing communities of Hammonds Plains and Fall River have raised concerns about road congestion and the pace of infrastructure investment keeping up with residential growth.