KINGS SOUTH (36)

Candidates:

Liberal: Maura Ryan NDP: David Mangle PC: David Morse NSP: Victor Harris

Current MLA: David Morse (PC), Minister of Community Services

Riding Profile: Kings South includes the southern part of Kings County, the Cambridge and Horton Reserves, and the town of Wolfville. Wolfville is home to Acadia University with 4,200 students and the Grand Pre National Historic site.

It also includes much of the shopping and manufacturing corridor between Wolfville and Kentville; these sectors are the main employers in areas such as New Minas and Coldbrook. Unemployment was less than five per cent last November but climbed to eight per cent early this year.

The university and the chicken co-op are the largest employers. Educational levels are higher than the provincial average with 17 per cent of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. But double that number have not obtained a high-school diploma. Creating enough well-paying jobs to keep university and community college graduates in Kings County is a major issue.

The population is 19,870 and the average income is $24,750.

Issues: The twinning of Highway 101 to Coldbrook, a shortage of family doctors, environmental issues over land use and water, a date for natural gas distribution to the Valley.

Political History: Kings South has been won by all three political parties in the past 15 years and in at least three instances, the margin of victory has been less than 10 per cent. This often makes for dramatic results on election night.

1999: PC David Morse defeated LIB cabinet minister Robbie Harrison by 650 votes. NDP Mary DeWolfe was third with 26 per cent of the popular vote. 1998: LIB Robbie Harrison defeated NDP Mary DeWolfe by 358 votes and PC David Morse by nearly 600 votes. 1993: LIB Robbie Harrison beat PC Harry How by 128 votes, a margin of one per cent. Derrick Kimball ran as an IND and finished third, NDP Steve Mattson was fourth. 1988: PC Derrick Kimball defeated NDP Steve Mattson by 452 votes. 1984: NDP Bob Levy defeated PC Paul Kinsman by just 21 votes. Levy had run and lost in Kings North in 1981. 1981: PC Attorney-General Harry How defeated NDP Evelyn Garbary by 2,992 votes.

Voter Turnout: 72 per cent in 1999.