Kings - Hants

This is primarily a rural riding, well-known for its apple orchards and fertile land. The northern boundary is Cobequid Bay, Minas Basin and Minas Channel. It contains Hants County and part of Kings County. The largest town is Kentville, but other centres include East and West Hants, New Minas, Windsor and Wolfville, home of Acadia University. The Indian Brook, Cambridge, Shubenacadie and Horton reserves are also in the riding.

Retail trade is a large part of the economy, followed by services and manufacturing.

In the 2006 census almost 96 per cent of residents cited English as their mother tongue. The total immigrant population is slightly more than four per cent. The average family income is $63,097 and unemployment is 7.6 per cent.

The riding was established in 1933 as Digby-Annapolis-Kings. In 1966, Annapolis Valley replaced Digby-Annapolis-Kings. In the 1976 redistribution, Annapolis Valley-Hants was created from 83 per cent of Annapolis Valley and 17 per cent of Halifax-East Hants. There was no change in the 1986 redistribution, but in 1996 the name was changed to Kings-Hants. In 2004, 80 per cent of Kings-Hants was kept and the western part of the riding moved to West Nova.

Population: 81,531 (2006 census; an increase of 2.8% since 2001)

Political History

Liberal incumbent Scott Brison retained his seat in 2006, beating Conservative Bob Mullan. Brison, who also beat Mullan in 2004, was first elected as a Progressive Conservative in 1997.

Brison resigned in July 2000 to create a byelection opportunity for then-PC leader Joe Clark. Brison defeated Liberal Claude O'Hara to regain the seat in the November 2000 general election. He joined the Liberal caucus in 2003, after the PCs merged with the Canadian Alliance. He served as minister of public works and government services in the Paul Martin government

The former Digby-Annapolis-Kings and Annapolis Kings ridings were Liberal from 1935 to 1948. PC George Nowlan won the 1948 byelection, but was defeated in 1949 by four votes. He won a 1950 byelection and held the riding until 1965. His son, PC Pat Nowlan, won in 1968, 1972 and 1974 in Annapolis Valley. Nowlan won a further four terms in the new Annapolis Valley-Hants riding. He was excluded from caucus in 1990 over objections to the Meech Lake Accord. In 1993, Liberal John Murphy defeated PC Jim White. Nowlan, running as an Independent, was third

• 1935-48 inclusive - LIB
• 1948 byelection - PC
• 1949 - LIB
• 1950-88 inclusive - PC
• 1993 - LIB
• 1997, 2000 byelection, 2000: PC
• 2004, 2006 - LIB