Federal parties fight to take new Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish riding in Nova Scotia

Jaime Battiste launched his riding campaign at his headquarters in his home community of Eskasoni First Nation to a room full of people dancing and singing. Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish is a new riding to Battiste, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2019 when the Liberals went from a majority in Parliament to a minority. It sits on the northeastern tip of Cape Breton Island and includes five Mi’kmaw Nations: Paqtnkek, Potlotek; We’koqma’q; Wagmatook and Eskasoni. Battiste said he heard from voters that their main concern is the uncertainty caused by tariffs imposed by foreign governments. “Whether it’s from the Chinese or from the Americans are going to have an impact in our communities,” he said. “We’re really looking at how we can invest to ensure stability in the economy.” The riding has about 82,000 voters – while Mi’kmaw Nations make up about 14 per cent of the voters. Eskasoni, the largest of them, has a population of about 4,000. Tourism and fishing are the main economic drivers. Eskasoni Chief Leroy Denny, who endorsed Battiste, said Indigenous Peoples need to vote. “I know that across the country that there’s many ridings that the voices of First Nations can call this election you know so our voices our votes are very important,” he said. “I call on all our Mi’kmaw brothers and sisters to get out and vote.” The NDP candidate is Joanna Clark. Last year she ran unsuccessfully in the provincial election. She said she’s hopeful for a win on the federal stage and is ready to work with Mi’kmaw communities -and that tariffs are only one part of the voters’ concerns. “We still have a lot of fragile systems in place in our country and so I still think its important not to forget about the state of housing, affordable living what our access to healthcare looks like, what our access to connectivity looks like,” she said. Despite a number of requests, Conservative candidate Allan MacMaster did not make himself available for an interview. Continue Reading