HALIFAX: The leader of the Official Opposition was in Cape Breton last weekend and one leg of that stop was a visit to a riding the Progressive Conservatives want in their column.
Last weekend, PC leader Tim Houston travelled around Cape Breton, including a stop on August 22 in Richmond County.
Although the Liberals held the seat for two decades under former MLA and cabinet minister Michel Samson, Houston said the riding did vote PC in the 2017 provincial election, electing Alana Paon, who was eventually removed from the Tory caucus.
“The Liberals held that seat for a long time with Michel Samson and with a PC member being elected in the last provincial election, I was excited about that,” Houston told The Reporter. “Obviously it didn’t work out. There were some issues there, and I made a difficult decision to remove somebody from caucus, certainly not a decision that would be made lightly.”
Last week, the PC Party confirmed that Dr. Trevor Boudreau will be its candidate in Richmond during the next provincial election. He was acclaimed on August 6.
“Certainly in Richmond County I’m really excited about Trevor’s candidacy,” Houston said. “I’m just super impressed that someone of his quality would put his name forward in general but put his name forward for our party. I’m really excited and I’m confident he’ll be an excellent MLA for the area.”
Boudreau, a former Port Hawkesbury Deputy Mayor, is a chiropractor who co-owns a multidisciplinary health clinic in Port Hawkesbury. For eight years he served on Port Hawkesbury Town Council. He is the former vice-president of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce, the former chair of the board for Louisdale Community Homes, former chair of the Allan J. MacEachen Airport, and is presently the co-chair of the Cape Breton South Recruiting for Health Committee.
“Tim Houston and his Progressive Conservative team have demonstrated again and again that they have the ideas and the know how to make life better for the people of Richmond and all of Nova Scotia,” Dr. Boudreau said in a press release. “I am excited to be part of a team that has a thoughtful, modern plan for our future.”
If Paon does decide to re-offer, Houston said vote-splitting between Boudreau and the former PC MLA is a concern.
“You always look at these things and wonder how people will vote,” Houston said, noting it’s important voters know what his party and his candidate stand for. “Trevor is an excellent person, excellent community member, well respected so I feel really confident with the candidate we’re putting forward there. I feel really confident in our ability to form a government and have Richmond represented by a PC government-side MLA. I think that would be a good thing for everyone.”
Because of Boudreau’s background in healthcare as a professional, an elected official and a volunteer, Houston said this gives his candidate a unique perspective on this “very significant” issue.
“If you look back, even to the 2017 provincial election, access to healthcare, access to mental health services, how we treat our seniors, those were issues in that campaign,” Houston recalled. “And now time is passing and there’s been no improvement on any of those fronts.”
Houston said in addition to putting out a “comprehensive, well researched” Long-Term Care plan, the PCs issued an education restart plan.
“These are discussions that need to be had and the sitting government is not engaging in those discussions so we’ve been doing what we could from opposition to put forward solutions to make sure that the discussions that need to be had are being had,” he stated.
Because of the shut-down of the province and the impacts on the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston said Nova Scotia is hurting because the provincial government failed to invest in people and in infrastructure.
“I think what’s been exposed is kind of a bit of a house of cards,” the PC leader said. “Nova Scotia was not prepared for a number of events by this government. Obviously, you don’t have to think much further than Internet. Imagine in 2020 that there’s still people that have to drive to a Zoom meeting, that can’t access their school work from home in 2020. So that’s a failure of government, certainly. In the last seven years, that hasn’t been addressed.”
Although Premier Stephen McNeil announced his intention to step down once the Liberal Party elects a new leader and Houston said he respects McNeil’s service and sacrifices, this decision will have no effect on how he prepares for the next election.
“I take the responsibility on myself to make sure that we do what we need to do to inform Nova Scotians what their options, what their choices are,” Houston said. “And I believe if we do that, we’ll have our chance.”
Despite the problems created in Nova Scotia by the governing Liberals, Houston added he is excited for the future of the province.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he added. “But there’s a lot that’s possible for this province. I’m really excited about the future of this province. I think the potential is very, very significant but it’s going to take a government that is willing to understand the opportunity and move towards it.”