What's at stake in the new riding of Richmond

Voters in Cape Breton's Richmond County are facing a different riding and different issues in the upcoming Nova Scotia election.

The boundaries of the riding, formerly called Cape Breton-Richmond, have shrunk to match the county lines.

It's also one of four so-called protected ridings. The boundaries for Richmond, Argyle and Clare have been redrawn to increase the odds of electing an Acadian member to the legislative assembly. Preston's boundaries have also been redrawn in hopes of electing a Black candidate.

The former riding of Cape Breton-Richmond was won in 2017 by Alana Paon of the Progressive Conservatives, but she was kicked out by the party two years later, so the incumbent is now an Independent.

Paon, who grew up in an Acadian home and whose first language is French, said it's great that Nova Scotia now has a French school system — referring to Conseil scolaire acadien provincial — but there's more work to be done to promote Acadian language and culture.

"I could barely speak English when I started school," she said. "I know full well what it's like to have been put through a provincial system that was all English."

However, the issues of the riding — which also has significant Irish, Scottish, Mi'kmaw and German populations — go beyond language and culture, said Paon.

"We need to resolve basic issues that affect people on a daily basis, like a roof over their head, heat in their house, food in their belly and to be able to access health care when they need it and we're not getting that right," she said.

In the last election, Paon narrowly ousted former Liberal Party cabinet minister Michel Samson by 21 votes.

Samson had held the riding for six terms starting in 1998, winning almost all handily.

John Greene of the PCs gave Samson a scare in 2006, coming within 55 votes of defeating him, but the longtime Liberal stormed back twice more, winning by more than 1,000 votes each time.

That was until Paon came along.

But her term has been rocky. PC Leader Tim Houston threw her out of the party in 2019, saying her dispute with a legislative committee over the lack of paving on her constituency office parking lot was the last straw for him.

She subsequently got into another spat with legislative colleagues over unpaid rent on her office and other issues.

Paon said the last couple of years have been difficult, partly because she lost out on party funding for research.

But she said in one sense, she is now a better MLA.

"People believe that you can't get anything done as an Independent," Paon said. "You actually have a lot more freedom."

The incumbent said she is running again because she wants to finish her work on reforming the legislative rules that reward parties with large caucuses and punish Independents by starving them of resources.

She introduced a private member's bill earlier this year, called the Member Equity Act, to try to ensure all MLAs get access to the same resources, regardless of party affiliation.

It received first reading in the spring, but is now dead because the session ended with an election call.

Access to French

PC candidate Trevor Boudreau is a former Town of Port Hawkesbury councillor, a chiropractor and co-chair of the Cape Breton South Recruiting for Health Care Committee.

He lives in Port Hawkesbury, but owns property in Richmond and is in the process of moving there.

Boudreau said health care is the number one issue with voters, but affordable housing is a close second.

People are buying up homes that are often rentals, forcing tenants to look elsewhere and further exacerbating the problem, he said.

The Cape Breton South Recruiting for Health Care Committee issued a press release recently on that topic.

Boudreau said the committee was "talking about trying to attract health-care providers and we wanted to get a list of landlords so that we can give these to people moving in the area, because right now there's nothing. It's a real struggle."

Voters are also asking about rural cellphone and internet service, he said.

Boudreau is Acadian, but is not bilingual.

He said many of his generation did not have access to French language education growing up.

Boudreau praised the French school board Conseil scolaire acadien provincial — also known as the CSAP — and said he intends to ensure it gets the support it needs.

"Now we have this wonderful school board that is promoting in French and my kids are going to French immersion in school and I'm going to continue to make sure nobody in this riding is going to have that same fate that I did in not having access to our language," he said.

Acadian issues need addressing

Liberal candidate Matthieu Haley is a bilingual Acadian who works for CSAP and goes by Matt.

He ran for the federal Liberal nomination in Cape Breton-Canso, but lost to now-MP Mike Kelloway.

Haley said health care and roads are the top issues with voters, but the need for better rural internet has also been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said those problems can be fixed by focusing on growing the economy.

"Richmond has also seen a shift in terms of a more progressive point of view," he said. "We have a new council locally that is also more progressive. We're looking to grow and I think that mindset is ramping up."

Like the other candidates, Haley said the local population includes a diverse mix of cultures, but he said there are Acadian issues that need to be addressed.

"I see the struggle on an ongoing basis working for the CSAP," he said.

"It's often difficult to find French resources and French translations, or whether it's forms or applications of any kind, whether you're just trying to manoeuvre government, so I think we need to increase that support."

A late addition

The NDP's Bryson Syliboy is a Mi'kmaw two-spirit activist living in Port Hawkesbury and the only candidate who is not Acadian.

He also does not live inside the riding boundaries, although he said he's only about 500 metres away.

Syliboy was a late addition to the slate, announcing his candidacy after the election call.

But he said he does not want to be considered a paper candidate.

"I just want equality for all and to see us grow and prosper as a province," Syliboy said. "I'm just doing this to be part of a great little team and try to change the world at a local level."

He said health care is a top priority, along with a living wage for all and more resources for the LGBTQ community.

"All of our resources go into our larger communities for LGBTQ rights and everything, so the resources here are a little scarce, but they're moving along and becoming more," Syliboy said.

Nova Scotians will head to the polls on Aug. 17.