Election win for Nova Scotia PCs adds hope going into next election, Wakeham says

A second term and supermajority for Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has Newfoundland and Labrador PC Leader Tony Wakeham hopeful some of the success can translate to this province in an election.

"It just shows that when you focus on people, when you focus on health care and when you focus on cost of living and carbon… and have clear messages, that that's what people want," Wakeham told reporters Tuesday.

"We hear the same thing in Newfoundland and Labrador. That people are looking, they have concerns about all the same issues."

First elected in 2021, Houston's party won 43 of 55 seats in government on Tuesday. The win comes after a snap election, with Houston moving ahead of the fixed date of July 15, 2025.

The provincial NDP finished second by securing nine seats. The Liberals claimed two seats, and an Independent candidate won one seat.

Alex Marland, a politics professor at Acadia University and formerly Memorial University, said the results showed a lot of different takeaways.

"If you like the PCs, you would look at this as a very strong, strong mandate for the Progressive Conservatives and Premier Tim Houston in Nova Scotia. You could look at this and say this is really a rebuke of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. And you could generally say that, you know, the blue tide is coming and that's going to trickle over federally," Marland told The St. John's Morning Show.

"If you're with another party, you can look at the NDP and say they improved their seat count ... if you're a Liberal, frankly, there's not a lot of good things happening here in Nova Scotia."

Marland said he was also surprised to see the Conservatives gain the number of seats they did, especially since other elections in Atlantic Canada this year have seen incumbent governments fall. The election was also hyper-localized, he said, with little to no commentary about federal politics as part of platforms.

Marland said it's tough to say whether the win represents how an election in Newfoundland and Labrador could go.

"Really when you think about it, there should be this big appetite for change. And among some people there is, but the reality is the polls are still showing that the Liberals would have a chance at forming a government again," he said.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, an election must happen by Oct. 14, 2025.

Wakeham said the win gives him hope his party could become the next government, but said he's been ready to go for some time.

"I wouldn't be in this game if I didn't think I could win it," he said.

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