2006 Nova Scotia general election

Riding map of Nova Scotia showing winning parties.

The 2006 election (more formally 60th Nova Scotia general election), in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada was held on June 13 2006 to elect members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Premier Rodney MacDonald, who led a Progressive Conservative minority government in the legislature, called for the election on May 13 2006, hoping for a majority government to better advance his agenda and a clear mandate for himself as he had not yet fought an election as leader. Ultimately, MacDonald was returned to power leading another, slightly smaller, minority government against a strengthened New Democratic Party sitting as the Official Opposition and a weakened Liberal Party. Liberal leader Francis MacKenzie was defeated in his riding of Bedford.

Timeline

September 29 2005 - Premier John Hamm, leader of the Progressive Conservative minority government, announces his intent to resign as soon as the party chooses a new leader.
February 11 2006 - Rodney MacDonald is elected to replace Hamm as leader.
February 24 2006 - MacDonald becomes Premier and his cabinet is sworn in.
May 9 2006 - MacDonald's government introduces an "election-style" budget in the legislature. [1]
May 13 2006 - MacDonald asks Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman to call an election. Upon his advice, Freeman sets the date for June 13 2006.
June 13 2006:

20:00 ADT - CBC projects a PC government

20:14 ADT - CBC projects a PC minority government

20:20 ADT - The riding of Bedford is called for the Tories, defeating Liberal leader Francis MacKenzie.

20:35 ADT - In delivering his consession speech, Francis MacKenzie announced that it was "the end of the road," and that he planned to meet with the Liberal President within a week.

21:33 ADT - CBC officially declares a PC minority government on their website [2]

Results

The Progressive Conservatives gained several points in the popular vote, but made a net loss of two seats, with losses to the NDP partially countered by the PCs doubling their representation on MacDonald's native Cape Breton Island at the expense of the Liberals. The gap between the Liberals and NDP also significantly increased, in both the popular vote and seat count.

Results by party

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	2003	Dissolution	Elected	% Change	#	%	Change Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row	Progressive Conservative	Rodney MacDonald	52	25	25	23	-8.0%	160,119	39.57%	+3.33% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP/row	New Democratic	Darrell Dexter	52	15	15	20	+33.3%	140,128	34.63%	+3.52% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row	Liberal	Francis MacKenzie	51	12	10	9	-10.0%	94,872	23.44%	-7.99% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Green/row	Green	Nick Wright	52	*	-	-	-	9,411	2.33%	* Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Independents/row	Independents	3	0	1	-	-100%	153	0.04%
	Vacant				1
Total			210	52	52	52		404,683

* The Greens did not contest the 2003 election.

Results by region

Party name	HRM	C.B.	Valley	S. Shore	Fundy	Central	Total
Parties winning seats in the legislature: Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row								Progressive Conservative	Seats:	3	4	3	5	5	3	23 Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row	Popular vote:	31.22%	42.62%	36.14%	49.08%	54.06%	42.90%	39.59% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP/row	New Democratic Party	Seats:	13	2	-	2	1	2	20 Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP/row	Popular vote:	46.57%	25.58%	23.44%	32.29%	26.49%	34.44%	34.50% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row	Liberal	Seats:	2	3	4	-	-	-	9 Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row	Popular vote:	19.29%	29.80%	38.35%	16.46%	16.70%	21.03%	23.56%
Parties not winning seats in the legislature: Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Green/row								Progressive Conservative	Green	Popular vote:	2.92%	1.83%	2.07%	2.16%	2.72%	1.58%	2.31% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Independents/row	Independents	Popular vote:	-	0.17%	-	-	0.03%	New Democratic Party	0.05%	0.04%															Liberal
Total seats:	18	9	7	7	6	5	52

Opinion polls

Polling Firm	Date	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative\|File:PCNSlogo.jpg	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP\|File:Ndp ns.jpg	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal\|
Corporate Research Associates	June 5	38	36	20
Corporate Research Associates	May 23	34	27	30
Corporate Research Associates	February 2006	36	29	27
Corporate Research Associates	November 2005	35	32	28
Corporate Research Associates	November 2005	35	32	28
Corporate Research Associates	November 2005	35	32	28
Corporate Research Associates	August 2005	31	32	26
Corporate Research Associates	May 2005	36	30	27
Corporate Research Associates	March 2005	38	24	30
Corporate Research Associates	December 2004	35	28	30
Corporate Research Associates	September 2004	29	30	31
Corporate Research Associates	May 2004	28	33	30
Corporate Research Associates	February 2004	31	30	28
Corporate Research Associates	November 2003	28	32	29
Last election (August 5 2003)		36.3	31	31.4

Corporate Research Associates website

Riding results

bold denotes a cabinet minister or party leader
italics denotes a candidate who has not yet been formally nominated by his or her party
† denotes an incumbent not seeking re-election

Valley

South Shore

Fundy

Template:Canadian politics/candlist header 4plus |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Brooke Taylor
4790 | |Gary Burrill
1891 | |Carolyn Matthews
707 | |Leona MacLeod
160 | | |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Brooke Taylor |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Colchester North |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Karen Casey
3899 | |Rob Assels
1511 | |Bob Taylor
1979 | |Judy Davis
176 | | |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Bill Langille † |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cumberland North |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Ernest Fage
4640 | |Kim Cail
1085 | |Bruce Alan Fage
1480 | |Darryl Whetter
202 | | |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Ernest Fage |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cumberland South |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Murray Scott
5087 | |Andrew Kernohan
753 | |Mary Dee MacPherson
691 | |James Dessart
92 | |David Raymond Amos
13 |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Murray Scott |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Hants East | |Wayne Fiander
2715 |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP| |John MacDonnell
4712 | |Malcolm MacKay
1237 | |Michael Hartlan
404 | | |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/NDP| |John MacDonnell |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Truro-Bible Hill |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Jamie Muir
3711 | |Jim Harpell
2220 | |Ronald Chisholm
1679 | |Barton Cutten
217 | | |Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives| |Jamie Muir |}

Central Halifax

Suburban Halifax

Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore

Central Nova

Cape Breton

Shifts in Control

From Progressive Conservative to NDP

Queens
Shelburne
Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank
Pictou East

From Liberal to NDP

Halifax Citadel

From Liberal to Progressive Conservative

Victoria-The Lakes

From Independent to Progressive Conservative

Cape Breton West (Voted Liberal in 2003)

External links

Preceded by 2003 NS election	List of Nova Scotia general elections	Succeeded by ?

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