Central Nova

Central Nova (Nova-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997 and since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 73,722.

The best-known person to represent this riding is Brian Mulroney, the former prime minister.

Demographics

Ethnic groups: 96.8% White, 1.6% Native Canadian, 1.0% Black
Languages: 96.0% English, 1.7% French, 2.0% Other
Religions: 47.1% Protestant, 42.3% Catholic, 9.2% No affiliation
Average income: $52,911

Geography

The district includes the counties of Pictou, and Antigonish, the District Municipality of St. Mary's and the extreme eastern part of theastern part of the Regional Municipality of Halifax. Communities include Halifax (part), New Glasgow, Stellarton, Antigonish, Westville, Pictou, St. Mary's and Trenton. The Area is 8,439 sq. km.

History

The district was created in 1966 from Antigonish—Guysborough, Colchester—Hants, and Pictou. In 1966, it consisted of Pictou County, southern Colchester County, eastern Halifax County, and western Guysborough County. In 1976, it gained some territory in Halifax County (eastern central portion), and it lost its territory in Colchester County. In 1987, it lost most of Guysborough County except for the most extreme western point, and gained all of central and central western Halifax County. In 1996, it was merged into Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, and Sackville-Eastern Shore.

The electoral district was re-created in 2003: 93.3% of the riding came from Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough riding, and 6.7% came from Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore. In the 2004 election, Conservative Party candidate Peter MacKay, who had represented Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, was returned to the House of Commons from Central Nova. He was re-elected in the 2006 election.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May is contesting the seat in the current federal election. In a move that startled political observers, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion announced on April 13, 2007, that his party would not contest the seat in order to give May a better chance of winning, a move that will mark the first time in decades that the Liberals do not field a full slate of candidates in a general election. In return, the Greens (who also fielded a full slate in the last election) will not contest Dion's Montreal riding.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
see Antigonish—Guysborough, Colchester—Hants and Pictou prior to 1968
28th	1968-1971		Russell MacEwan	Progressive Conservative
28th	1971	vacant
1971 By-election	1971-1972		Elmer MacKay 1st term	Progressive Conservative
29th	1972-1974
30th	1974-1979
31st	1979-1980
32nd	1980-1983
32nd	1983	vacant
1983 By-election	1983-1984		Brian Mulroney	Progressive Conservative
33rd	1984-1988		Elmer MacKay 2nd term	Progressive Conservative
34th	1988-1993		Elmer MacKay 2nd term	Progressive Conservative
35th	1993-1997		Roseanne Skoke	Liberal
see Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough and Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore for 1997-2004
38th	2004-2006		Peter MacKay	Conservative
39th	2006-2008		Peter MacKay	Conservative

Election results

2004- present

Change from 2000 is based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.