Liberal Candidate Hopes To Make History in Richmond

ARICHAT - Matt Haley is hoping his personal and professional track record will return Richmond to the win column for the governing Liberals, four years after the previous incarnation of the riding flipped to the Progressive Conservatives.

Haley, who was acclaimed to the Richmond Liberal nomination in early May, is the first person to run for the party in the county other than former provincial cabinet ministers Michel Samson and Richie Mann since 1981. Mann lost in 1984 but won the riding in 1988 and 1993; Samson was first elected in 1998 and won every election prior to a 21-vote loss in 2017 to PC candidate Alana Paon, who was since ejected from the party and is now running in this election as an independent. 

This isn't Haley's first crack at a Liberal nomination. He ran for the federal nod in Cape Breton-Canso two years ago, coming in second to the riding's eventual Member of Parliament, Mike Kelloway, who is now seeking re-election in the September 20th federal vote. 

"With the Liberal Party, in Nova Scotia in particular, it's very much evidence-based and very cautious, using targeted investments in their spending and in their approach," Haley told TELILE 24/7 host/producer Adam Cooke in an interview at his Arichat campaign headquarters. 

The first-time candidate feels his day job, as Coordinator of Operations for the province-wide Francophone school board known as the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP), has given him the training to be an effective MLA, since it puts him in contact with several government departments in the run of a typical day. 

Haley is also hoping that his dedication to the community, as exemplified by his service on the boards of directors for the Arichat Community Development Association and the Petit de Grat Beautification Society, will help voters see him as a candidate that cares about the growth of communities of all sizes within Richmond.