The 2006 Provincial Election in Nova Scotia

Abstract

Rodney MacDonald, the youngest premier in Nova Scotia’s history, made an election call on May 13, 2006. He had been the leader of the Progressive Conservative party for only three months, but was certainly no rookie politician. He was elected to the legislature first in 1999 and went on to hold several cabinet portfolios in John Hamm’s government, including immigration and tourism. Not quite three years had passed since the last provincial election in 2003, but MacDonald was eager to try to upgrade the PC minority government to a majority and to establish a mandate for himself as leader of the province. When all was said and done exactly one month later, MacDonald ended up with two seats fewer than he had at dissolution. The New Democrats were the clear winners, picking up five seats, while the Liberals slipped by one. The results were no surprise to political pundits and seemed to confirm the durability of Nova Scotia’s three-party system. In this brief article, I review the events and issues that defined the 2006 campaign.