West Nova

West Nova (French: Nova-Ouest) (formerly South West Nova) is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.

Since October 2008, its Member of Parliament has been Greg Kerr of the Conservative Party.

The district is rural with a few small towns and communities located along the coast. The riding has been called a microcosm of rural Canada because it includes fishing, farming, tourism, small business and an English-French mix.^[1]

The riding is noted as having the highest Baptist proportion in Canada at 28%.^[2]

The riding tends to have socially conservative views. In the 1990's, Harry Verran was able to win the district as a Liberal in part due to his socially conservative views, including campaigning against same-sex marriage.^[3]

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Geography
4 Members of Parliament
5 Election results
- 5.1 South West Nova
- 5.2 South Western Nova
6 See also
7 References
8 Sources

History

The electoral district was created in 1966 from Digby—Annapolis—Kings and Shelburne—Yarmouth—Clare ridings. In 1996, Seal Island was added and the name was changed from South West Nova to West Nova. In 2004, 20 percent of Kings—Hants was added to the district.

Demographics

From the 2006 census ^[4]

Ethnic groups:

White: 97.9%
Black: 1.5%
Other: 0.6%

Languages:

English: 83.0%
French: 15.1%
German: 0.8%
Other: 1.1%

Religions:

Protestant: 48.4%
Catholic: 35.1%
Other Christian: 1.2%
No religious affiliation: 14.5%

Education:

No certificate, diploma or degree: 35.4%
High school certificate: 20.5%
Apprenticeship or trade certificate or diploma: 13.6%
Community college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma: 18.4%
University certificate or diploma: 12.1%

Income:

Per capita income: $19,450
Median household income: $40,290
Median family income: $48,969
Average house value: $133,217

Median Age:

43.6

Unemployment:

11.3%

Geography

It reaches from Berwick in Kings County (it only includes the western part of Kings County) down through Annapolis County, Digby County and Yarmouth County, ending at the Yarmouth-Shelburne border.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years		Party
Digby—Annapolis—Kings and Shelburne—Yarmouth—Clare prior to 1966
28th	1968-1972	Louis-Roland Comeau	Progressive Conservative
29th	1972-1974	Charles Haliburton	Progressive Conservative
30th	1974-1979	Coline Campbell	Liberal
South Western Nova
31st	1979–1980	Charles Haliburton	Progressive Conservative
32nd	1980–1984	Coline Campbell	Liberal
33rd	1984–1988	Gerald Comeau	Progressive Conservative
34th	1988–1993	Coline Campbell	Liberal
35th	1993–1997	Harry Verran	Liberal
South West Nova
36th	1997–2000	Mark Muise	Progressive Conservative
37th	2000–2004	Robert Thibault	Liberal
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011	Greg Kerr	Conservative
41st	2011–present	Greg Kerr	Conservative

Election results

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Greg Kerr	20,204	47.04	+7.10
	Liberal	Robert Thibault	15,632	36.39	+0.24
	New Democrat	George Barron	5,631	13.11	-3.78
	Green	Ross Johnson	1,487	3.46	-1.55
Total valid votes/Expense limit			42,954	100.00
Total rejected ballots			356	0.82	+0.10
Turnout			43,310	63.95	+1.2
Eligible voters			67,287

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Greg Kerr	16,779	39.94	+1.83	$70,657
	Liberal	Robert Thibault	15,185	36.15	-3.09	$65,606
	New Democrat	George Barron	7,097	16.89	-1.94	$12,741
	Green	Ronald Mills	2,106	5.01	+2.71	$230
	Independent	Cindy M. Nesbitt	844	2.01		$10,570
Total valid votes			42,011	100.00
Total rejected ballots			304	0.72
Turnout			42,315	62.8
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	-2.46

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Robert Thibault	17,734	39.24	-3.42	$72,735
	Conservative	Greg Kerr	17,222	38.11	+5.06	$54,065
	New Democrat	Arthur Bull	8,511	18.83	-2.30	$25,355
	Green	Matthew Granger	1,040	2.30	-0.92	$193
	Independent	Ken Griffiths	681	1.51		$2,576
Total valid votes			45,189	100.00
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.24

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Robert Thibault	18,343	42.66	+6.57	$49,127
	Conservative	Jon Charles Carey	14,209	33.05	-1.06	$119,570
	New Democrat	Arthur Bull	9,086	21.13	+9.90	$18,596
	Green	Matthew Granger	1,385	3.22		$0.00
Total valid votes			42,996	100.00

Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Robert Thibault	12,783	36.09	+10.39	$57,653
	Progressive Conservative	Mark Muise	12,080	34.11	-0.20	34,692
	Canadian Alliance	Mike Donaldson	6,581	18.58	-0.23	$32,417
	New Democrat	Phil Roberts	3,976	11.23	-9.23	$14,118
Total valid votes			35,420	100.00

Results for the Canadian Alliance from 1997 are based on the results of its predecessor, the Reform Party.

Canadian federal election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Mark Muise	13,187	34.31	+11.64	$37,592
	Liberal	Harry Verran	9,877	25.70	-29.19	$47,082
	New Democrat	Brian Noble	7,862	20.46	+14.87	$4,426
	Reform	Betty Cox	7,229	18.81	+3.66	$25,210
	Natural Law	Neeraj Lakhanpal	275	0.72	-0.98	$0.00
Total valid votes			38,430	100.00

South West Nova

Canadian federal election, 1993
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Verran	20,530	54.89	+4.88
	Progressive Conservative	Yvon Joseph Thibault	8,478	22.67	-18.84
	Reform	Louis Mason	5,667	15.15
	New Democrat	Peter Zavitz	2,090	5.59	-0.10
	Natural Law	Gregg Murphy	636	1.70
Total valid votes			37,401	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Coline Campbell	21,062	50.01	+8.16
	Progressive Conservative	Gerald Comeau	17,482	41.51	-9.08
	New Democrat	Peter Zavitz	2,396	5.69	-1.86
	Christian Heritage	Angus M. McLean	1,172	2.78
Total valid votes			42,112	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1984
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gerald Comeau	20,604	50.59	+13.78
	Liberal	Coline Campbell	17,044	41.85	-7.97
	New Democrat	Bob Ritchie	3,076	7.55	-5.25
Total valid votes			40,724	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1980
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Coline Campbell	19,151	49.82	+5.65
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Haliburton	14,151	36.81	-7.66
	New Democrat	John Lee	4,922	12.80	+1.44
	Independent	Anne Trudell	216	0.56
Total valid votes			38,440	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Haliburton	16,512	44.47	-0.64
	Liberal	Coline Campbell	16,398	44.17	-4.93
	New Democrat	Ian MacPherson	4,217	11.36	+6.11
Total valid votes			37,127	100.00

South Western Nova

Canadian federal election, 1974
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Coline Campbell	15,066	49.10	7.49
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Haliburton	13,841	45.11	-5.07
	New Democrat	Yvonne Coe	1,610	5.25	-1.77
	Social Credit	Cecilia Zwicker	164	0.53	-0.67
Total valid votes			30,681	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Haliburton	15,039	50.18	-2.15
	Liberal	Fulton Logan	12,471	41.61	-2.61
	New Democrat	Lawrence Meuse	2,104	7.02	+4.66
	Social Credit	Charles Paddock	359	1.20
Total valid votes			29,973	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1968
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Louis-Roland Comeau	14,543	52.33
	Liberal	John Stewart	12,290	44.22
	New Democrat	Rae Gilman	655	2.36
	Ind. Progressive Conservative	N. Evan Atkinson	293	1.05
Total valid votes			27,791	100.00

References

^ CBC riding profile
^ Tony Hill (2002). Canadian politics, riding by riding: an in-depth analysis of Canada's 301 federal electoral districts. Winnipeg: Prospect Park Press. ISBN 0-9723436-0-1.
^ Petition openparliament.ca
^ http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/cen06/profiles/detail_b/FED12011.pdf West Nova's census profile

Sources

Federal ridings in Nova Scotia

Liberal	Cape Breton—Canso • Halifax West • Kings—Hants • Sydney-Victoria

Conservative	Central Nova • Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley • South Shore—St. Margaret's • West Nova

New Democratic	Dartmouth—Cole Harbour • Halifax • Sackville—Eastern Shore

Federal ridings in Atlantic Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador	Avalon • Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor • Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte • Labrador • Random—Burin—St. George's • St. John's East • St. John's South—Mount Pearl

Nova Scotia	Cape Breton—Canso • Central Nova • Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley • Dartmouth—Cole Harbour • Halifax • Halifax West • Kings—Hants • Sackville—Eastern Shore • South Shore—St. Margaret's • Sydney—Victoria • West Nova

Prince Edward Island	Cardigan • Charlottetown • Egmont • Malpeque

New Brunswick	Acadie—Bathurst • Beauséjour • Fredericton • Fundy Royal • Madawaska—Restigouche • Miramichi • Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe • New Brunswick Southwest • Saint John • Tobique—Mactaquac