1981 Nova Scotia general election

1981 Nova Scotia general election

October 6, 1981
52 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74.17% 4.06pp
First party Second party Third party   PC Lib Leader John Buchanan A.M. "Sandy" Cameron Alexa McDonough Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since March 6, 1971 June 8, 1980 November 16, 1980 Leader's seat Halifax Atlantic Guysborough Ran in Halifax Chebucto (won) Last election 31 17 4 Seats won 37 13 1 Seat change 6 4 3 Popular vote 200,228 139,604 76,289 Percentage 47.28% 32.96% 18.01% Swing 1.80pp 6.20pp 3.71pp
Premier before election John Buchanan Progressive Conservative Premier after election John Buchanan Progressive Conservative

The 1981 Nova Scotia general election was held on October 6, 1981, to elect members of the 53rd House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative party.

Results

Results by party

↓

37	13	1	1
Progressive Conservative	Liberal	New Democratic	Independent

Official results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				1978	Dissolution	Elected	Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Progressive Conservative	John Buchanan	52	31	34	37	+6	200,228	47.28%	+1.80%
	Liberal	A.M. "Sandy" Cameron	52	17	15	13	-4	139,604	32.96%	-6.20%
	New Democratic	Alexa McDonough	52	4	2	1	-3	76,289	18.01%	+3.71%
	Independent		6	0	1	1	0	5,002	1.18%	+0.73%
	Vacant				0
Total valid votes								421,123	99.43%	+0.04%
Blank and invalid ballots								2,403	0.57%	-0.04%
Total			162	52	52	52	–	423,526	100.00%	–
Registered voters / turnout								570,987	74.17%	-4.06%

Popular vote PC   47.28% Liberal   32.96% New Democratic   18.01% Independent   1.18%

Seats summary PC   71.15% Liberal   25.00% New Democratic   1.92% Independent   1.92%

Results by region

Party name			HRM	Cape Breton	Annapolis Valley	South Shore	Fundy-Northeast	Central Nova	Total
Parties winning seats in the legislature
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	13	7	6	4	4	3	37
		Popular vote:	47.87%	40.16%	51.61%	49.85%	49.22%	52.25%	47.28%
	Liberal	Seats:	0	3	2	3	3	2	13
		Popular vote:	27.15%	39.46%	30.29%	37.50%	35.25%	35.29%	32.96%
	New Democratic Party	Seats:	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
		Popular vote:	24.89%	15.31%	18.10%	12.65%	15.44%	11.79%	18.01%
	Independents	Seats:	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
		Popular vote:	0.08%	5.08%	–	–	0.10%	0.67%	1.18%
Total seats:			14	11	8	7	7	5	52

Retiring incumbents

Liberal

• Benoit Comeau, Clare

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Annapolis East		Gerry Sheehy 3,700 56.40%		Hugh Laurence 2,006 30.58%		Joan M. Boutilier 854 13.02%				Gerry Sheehy
Annapolis West		Greg Kerr 2,784 53.57%		Herb Anderson 1,894 36.44%		John R. Taylor 519 9.99%				Greg Kerr
Clare		Guy LeBlanc 2,173 38.00%		Chester Melanson 2,228 38.96%		Paul Denis Comeau 1,317 23.03%				Benoit Comeau†
Digby		John Comeau 2,643 41.70%		Joseph H. Casey 2,918 46.04%		Bill Redden 777 12.26%				Joseph H. Casey
Hants West		Ron Russell 4,554 51.51%		Daniel J. McGrath 2,661 30.10%		Alan Squires 1,626 18.39%				Ron Russell
Kings North		Edward Twohig 3,369 43.61%		Lennie White 2,041 26.42%		Bob Levy 2,316 29.98%				Edward Twohig
Kings South		Harry How 4,356 65.47%		Betty Deal 933 14.02%		Evelyn Garbary 1,364 20.50%				Harry How
Kings West		George Moody 5,286 59.43%		Dan Weir 2,259 25.40%		Carolyn Queen 1,349 15.17%				George Moody

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Argyle		Peter J. Boudreau 2,092 39.32%		Hugh Tinkham 2,872 53.97%		Roy Sonny Murphy 357 6.71%				Hugh Tinkham Yarmouth
Lunenburg Centre		Bruce Cochran 5,374 54.40%		Alan V. Parish 3,355 33.96%		Neil Theriault 1,150 11.64%				Bruce Cochran
Lunenburg East		Ron Barkhouse 2,802 55.49%		Dave Cook 1,180 23.37%		Janet Mooney 1,068 21.15%				Ron Barkhouse
Lunenburg West		Mel Pickings 3,875 53.66%		Pauline Himmelman 2,319 32.11%		Carl E. Simpson 1,027 14.22%				Mel Pickings
Queens		John Leefe 4,114 65.19%		Mervin W. Hartlen 1,511 23.94%		David K. Sampson 686 10.87%				John Leefe
Shelburne		Warren Doane 3,440 42.21%		Harold Huskilson 3,765 46.20%		Laurie Hitchens 945 11.60%				Harold Huskilson
Yarmouth		Benoit Robichaud 3,389 40.39%		Fraser Mooney 3,868 46.10%		Hartley Wickens 1,134 13.51%				Fraser Mooney

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Colchester North		Bill Campbell 3,171 42.40%		Ed Lorraine 3,182 42.55%		Allan Marchbank 1,126 15.06%				Bill Campbell
Colchester South		R. Colin Stewart 3,281 56.48%		Laurence Mersereau Nason 1,683 28.97%		Chester Rice 799 13.75%		Bob Kirk 46 0.79%		R. Colin Stewart
Cumberland Centre		Arthur L. Brennan 1,469 33.86%		Guy Brown 2,579 59.45%		Florence Welton 290 6.69%				Guy Brown
Cumberland East		Roger Stuart Bacon 4,663 53.08%		Shelagh Frances Rayworth 2,413 27.47%		Hal Davidson 1,709 19.45%				Roger Stuart Bacon
Cumberland West		D. L. George Henley 2,745 54.12%		Bartley Babineau 1,717 33.85%		Doug Meekins 610 12.03%				D. L. George Henley
Hants East		G. Patrick Hunt 2,983 38.39%		Jack Hawkins 3,041 39.13%		Harry McNeil 1,747 22.48%				G. Patrick Hunt
Truro—Bible Hill		Ron Giffin 5,024 61.55%		Sylvia Roy 2,097 25.69%		Tom Barron 1,041 12.75%				Ron Giffin

Central Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Halifax Bedford Basin		Joel Matheson 6,087 49.41%		John Genik 3,240 26.30%		Peter Delefes 2,993 24.29%				Joel Matheson
Halifax Chebucto		Dugger McNeil 3,394 35.04%		Walter Fitzgerald 2,407 24.84%		Alexa McDonough 3,886 40.12%				Walter Fitzgerald
Halifax Citadel		Art Donahoe 4,141 44.55%		Brenda Shannon 2,690 28.94%		Tom Sinclair-Faulkner 2,465 26.52%				Art Donahoe
Halifax Cornwallis		Terry Donahoe 4,927 46.79%		Dean Salsman 2,867 27.22%		Michael Coyle 2,737 25.99%				Terry Donahoe
Halifax Needham		Edmund L. Morris 3,300 38.05%		Dan Clarke 2,801 32.30%		Phil Davis 2,572 29.66%				Edmund L. Morris

Suburban Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Bedford-Musquodoboit Valley		Ken Streatch 4,929 57.62%		Dwight Isenor 2,246 26.26%		Bruce Carroll 1,379 16.12%				Ken Streatch
Halifax Atlantic		John Buchanan 6,023 60.29%		Roma J. Aiken 1,744 17.46%		Rene Quigley 2,108 21.10%		Art Canning 115 1.15%		John Buchanan
Halifax-St. Margaret's		Jerry Lawrence 4,860 50.26%		Helena Poirier 2,617 27.06%		Lillian Viau 2,193 22.68%				Jerry Lawrence
Sackville		Malcolm A. MacKay 4,687 42.55%		Murdock MacKay 3,478 31.58%		John Holm 2,849 25.87%				Malcolm A. MacKay

Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Cole Harbour		David Nantes 4,605 51.20%		Rae Austin 2,229 24.78%		Steve MacDonald 2,160 24.02%				David Nantes
Dartmouth East		Richard L. Weldon 4,253 42.51%		Jim Smith 3,351 33.50%		Gerry Legere 2,400 23.99%				Richard L. Weldon
Dartmouth North		Laird Stirling 3,925 46.17%		Don Valardo 2,419 28.46%		Mark Flannigan 2,157 25.37%				Laird Stirling
Dartmouth South		Roland J. Thornhill 4,215 46.81%		Will Chisholm 2,463 27.35%		John Lewis Bregante 2,327 25.84%				Roland J. Thornhill
Halifax Eastern Shore		Tom McInnis 5,639 59.32%		Angus MacNeil 2,302 24.22%		Bruce Beasley 1,565 16.46%				Tom McInnis

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Antigonish		Angus MacIsaac 4,271 43.90%		Bill Gillis 4,522 46.47%		John Arthur Murphy 937 9.63%				Bill Gillis
Guysborough		Jim Johnson 3,119 42.76%		A.M. "Sandy" Cameron 3,723 51.03%		Art Livingston 453 6.21%				A.M. "Sandy" Cameron
Pictou Centre		Jack MacIsaac 6,673 59.62%		Tom DeWolfe 2,634 23.53%		Kim Murray 1,885 16.84%				Jack MacIsaac
Pictou East		Donald Cameron 4,347 60.88%		Harold Lowe 1,833 25.67%		Hasse Lindblad 960 13.45%				Donald Cameron
Pictou West		Donald P. McInnes 3,473 53.24%		Doris Rink 2,066 31.67%		Jim Scanlan 702 10.76%		Franklin R. Fiske 282 4.32%		Donald P. McInnes

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent
Cape Breton Centre		Mike Laffin 3,276 39.49%		Art MacDonald 2,208 26.62%		Buddy MacEachern 2,812 33.90%				Buddy MacEachern
Cape Breton East		Donnie MacLeod 4,699 45.55%		Shelly McNeil 3,053 29.59%		Joe Kanary 1,849 17.92%		Blair Matheson 716 6.94%		Donnie MacLeod
Cape Breton North		Brian Young 4,187 43.51%		Nash Brogan 3,128 32.51%		Len J. Arsenault 2,307 23.98%				Len J. Arsenault
Cape Breton Nova		Russell Brake 1,487 19.42%		Earle Tubrett 2,307 30.13%		Tony Gale 173 2.26%		Paul MacEwan 3,691 48.20%		Paul MacEwan
Cape Breton South		Murray Hannem 3,824 32.16%		Vince MacLean 6,633 55.78%		Linda Gallant 1,435 12.07%				Vince MacLean
Cape Breton—The Lakes		John Newell 3,316 41.51%		Ossie Fraser 3,436 43.01%		Douglas D. MacDonald 1,237 15.48%				Ossie Fraser
Cape Breton West		"Big" Donnie MacLeod 4,125 42.59%		David Muise 3,735 38.56%		Elizabeth Cusack Walsh 1,826 18.85%				David Muise
Inverness North		Daniel Rankin 3,160 42.17%		John Archie MacKenzie 3,770 50.31%		Eleanor Joyce Gillis 564 7.53%				John Archie MacKenzie Inverness
Inverness South		Billy Joe MacLean 2,469 46.82%		William MacEachern 2,407 45.65%		Bill Martin 397 7.53%				William MacEachern Inverness
Richmond		Greg MacIsaac 3,173 46.03%		John E. LeBrun 2,821 40.93%		Shirley McNamara 899 13.04%				John E. LeBrun
Victoria		Fisher Hudson 2,357 50.02%		Merrill D. Buchanan 1,952 41.43%		Frank Reid 251 5.33%		Duncan J. Beaton 152 3.23%		Fisher Hudson

Further reading

• Byers, R. B., ed. (1984). Canadian annual review of politics and public affairs. 1981. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-7195-9.