TELILE 24/7 Pre-Election Special #1

STRAIT AREA - In the first of two Pre-Election Specials for TELILE 24/7, host Adam Cooke interviews four candidates from very different backgrounds that have put their name on the ballot for the August 17 provincial election in Nova Scotia. 

The incumbent for the riding of Richmond, Alana Paon, was first elected as a Progressive Conservative candidate in 2017, defeating longtime Liberal cabinet minister Michel Samson by 21 votes. However, PC Leader Tim Houston ejected Paon from the party caucus in 2019, following a prolonged squabble between the MLA and the Office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly regarding wheelchair-accessibility issues at Paon's main constituency office in St. Peter's.

Running on the slogan "People Before Politics," Paon claims that she is now more free to represent her constituents' concerns than she was in what she describes as a "toxic" environment within the Nova Scotia PC caucus. 

Replacing Paon on the Tory ticket this time around is Trevor Boudreau, a licensed chiropractor who has also served for 7.5 years as a town councillor in Port Hawkesbury. A native of Louisdale, Boudreau feels he has the ear of Houston on the concerns of Richmond County residents and hopes to show the same collaborative spirit that he demonstrated in municipal politics and as the co-chair of the Cape Breton South: Recruiting For Health committee.

The Richmond riding's Liberal candidate, Matt Haley, is the Coordinator of Operations for the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP) and also serves on the boards of directors for the Arichat Community Development Association and the Petit de Grat Beautification Society. He feels this mixture of provincial and community experience has prepared him to bring the concerns of Richmond residents to the forefront of Province House. 

This episode also includes an interview with the New Democratic candidate for the Inverness riding, Joanna Clark. A fluently bilingual graduate of Universitie-Sainte-Anne who has served as a substitute teacher since her graduation, Clark feels her experience on the executive of the Canadian Federation of Students will also bode well for her desire to bring about the NDP's first victory in the riding encompassing western Cape Breton and the Town of Port Hawkesbury.