GUYSBOROUGH-SHEET HARBOUR (24)
formerly 12

Candidates:

Current MLA: Ronnie Chisholm (PC)

Riding Profile: This is a huge, rural and sparsely populated riding stretching along the Atlantic coast from Tangier and Sheet Harbour on the Eastern Shore to the town of Canso in the north, then west along the Strait to the port of Mulgrave. In the south, Sherbrooke is home to Sherbrooke Village, a re-created 19th century village. The town of Guysborough is the main service center for the county of Guysborough in the north and derives some business from the Sable Offshore Project and gas plant in Goldboro.

The rural part of the riding, which includes the districts of St.Mary's, Guysborough, and Halifax County covers 4,300 squarekilometers and has a population of 9,700 people. The riding's total population is only 13,640.

Resource industries such as fishing and forestry remain important and Ocean Nutrition and Mulgrave Machine Works are major employers, as are the schools and hospitals.

The average income is significantly below the provincial average ($25,970) at $20,140. Unemployment is in the range of 15 per cent. More than half the population has not finished high school and less than five per cent have a bachelor's degree.

Issues: Jobs and roads are the two issues people talk about most. Good ones of both are in short supply in the area. Pocketbook issues such as car insurance and the $155.00 cash advance on next year's tax cut also play big in this riding.

Political History: Guysborough-Sheet Harbour has been re-designed as a result of boundary changes since the last provincial election. In 1999, it was known as Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury and included all of Guysborough County and the Strait area towns of Port Hawkesbury and Port Hastings. Today, the riding still includes all of Guysborough County but it excludes those larger urban areas in Inverness County. It has picked up a piece of Halifax County that includes Tangier and Sheet Harbour. Traditionally, the Sheet Harbour area votes PC and in recent years, the Port Hawkesbury area has also voted PC.

Voters in Guysborough County have traditionally alternated between Liberal or Conservative candidates. Former Liberal leader Sandy Cameron came from Sherbrooke, PC Ray White was the former mayor of Canso. PC incumbent Ronnie Chisholm is a former warden of St.Mary's district. His Liberal challenger Gordon MacDonald is well known in the Guysborough area through his work in economic development and the offshore.

1999: PC Ronnie Chisholm defeated LIB Ray White by 153 votes. NDP Wendy Panagopoulos was third with 1,267 votes. 1998: LIB Ray White defeated PC Ronnie Chisholm by 720 votes. NDP Wendy Panagopoulos was third with 1,876. 1993: LIB Ray White defeated PC Chuck MacNeil by 2,200. NDP Frank Fraser received 982 votes. 1988: PC Chuck MacNeil defeated LIB Joe Sullivan by 276 votes.

Voter Turnout: 74 per cent in 1999.