CAPE BRETON NORTH (6)

Candidates:

Liberal: Mike White NDP: Cecil Snow PC: Cecil Clarke

Current MLA: Cecil Clarke (PC), Minister of Economic Development

Riding Profile: Cape Breton North is an urban riding, taking in the former towns of North Sydney and Sydney Mines.

The main industries are fishing, tourism and the service sector. Until 2001, this riding was home to the island's last underground coal mine. Many of the miners lived in Sydney Mines and North Sydney. The town of Sydney Mines, particularly, is still feeling the loss of those jobs.

Unemployment is high, at about 16 per cent.

The average income is $21,100 and the population is 18,450. More than half the residents have not completed high school.

Political History: For much of the 1990s, the seat was Liberal. After Premier Russell MacLellan resigned, the riding went to Tory Cecil Clarke in a March 2000 byelection.

Clarke is the focal point for the PCs in Cape Breton. He's a young, fresh face for the party and their only elected representative in urban Cape Breton. (The only other Tory member on the island is Rodney MacDonald in Inverness).

The Liberals are counting on a well-known municipal politician to defeat Clarke. Mike White was the mayor of North Sydney before amalgamation. He served for several years as councillor in the new Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

1999: LIB Russell MacLellan received 49 per cent of the vote, NDP Archie MacKinnon received 30 per cent, and PC Murray Johnston 21 per cent. 1997: LIB Russell MacLellan defeated NDP Archie MacKinnon by 2,000 votes, and PC Dan Laffin took 759. 1993: LIB Ron Stewart defeated PC Brian Young by 1,500 votes. NDP Archie MacKinnon was third. 1988: PC Brian Young defeated LIB Robert McGrath by 4,000 votes. NDP Gerald Yetman was third.

Voter Turnout: 73 per cent in 1999.