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Canada Votes 2008

Results, Ridings and Candidates

Cumberland - Colchester - Musquodoboit Valley

2008 Results

Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley
Party Candidate Votes Status
Updated: Nov. 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST 240/240 polls
IND Bill Casey 27,303 Elected
NDP Karen Olsson 4,874
CON Joel Bernard 3,493
LIB Tracy Parsons 3,344
IND Rick Simpson 551

Unofficial results were updated at the time shown following judicial recounts in six ridings. For more recent results, visit Elections Canada. The CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. External links will open in a new window.

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This is a mostly rural riding on the south coast of the Northumberland Strait. It borders New Brunswick in the northwest and contains Cumberland and Colchester counties and part of the regional municipality of Halifax. Amherst, Truro, Springhill and Bible Hill are important centres. The Millbrook reserve is also in the riding.

A penitentiary is in Springhill, along with a Canadian Forces base. Much of the rest of the riding's economy consists of small businesses and textile manufacturing.

Just over 96 per cent of the population cites English as the mother tongue. The total immigrant population is less than four per cent, according to the 2006 census. The average family income is $58,555 and unemployment is nine per cent.

In 2004, North Nova was created out of 100 per cent of Cumberland-Colchester and six per cent of Sackville-Musquodoboit Valley-Eastern Shore. The name was changed to Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley in 2004. The riding was established in 1867 as Cumberland. In 1966, it was renamed Cumberland-Colchester North, and in 1976, Cumberland-Colchester.

Population: 87,895 (2006 census; an increase of 0.9% since 2001)

Political History

Former Conservative-turned-Independent Bill Casey is serving his fourth term after an easy win in the 2006 election. Casey, running as a Conservative, swept the vote and beat Liberal Gary Richard by 12,140 votes. Casey was ejected from caucus in June 2007 after voting against the party's budget. He said it did not allow Nova Scotia to fully benefit from offshore oil and gas revenues without losing equalization payments from the federal government.

In 2004, Casey defeated Liberal Dianne Brushett for the second time to win a third term in Cumberland-Colchester.

Cumberland elected Conservative Charles Tupper, one of the Fathers of Confederation, from 1867 to 1887. After that, Tories and Liberals were elected. PC Bob Coates won five terms in Cumberland beginning in 1957 and was elected from 1968 to 1984 in Cumberland-Colchester. He was appointed minister of defence after the 1984 election.

He resigned from cabinet in 1985 after a controversy over a visit to a bar in Germany. In 1988, Casey defeated Liberal Dennis James under the Progressive Conservative banner.

  • 1957-88 inclusive - PC
  • 1993 - LIB
  • 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 - PC, CON (MP ejected from Conservative caucus in June 2007 and sat as an Independent)