Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservative Party won a massive majority government on Tuesday night, claiming 43 out of the 55 seats.

Premier Houston called the snap election in October. 

The PC win included about 52.8% of the vote, totalling over 189,000 ballots going blue. 

Nova Scotia is the latest province where Conservatives have made inroads during the Trudeau era, in what’s traditionally been a rather Liberal Eastern Canada where struggling industries rely on federal government aid. The PC’s capitalized on inflation and carbon tax-related frustrations.

The New Democrats led by Claudia Chender will form the official opposition, taking the position from the Liberals. The NDP have won 9 seats thus far, as votes are still being counted at the time of publication. The Liberals won just 2 seats.

“Fighting against headwinds there”

The Liberal leader,  Zach Churchill, admitted that the federal Liberals hurt their party’s appeal. Last year, Trudeau was shouted out of the province by local protestors.

This came around the same time that a poll by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation showed that 77% of Atlantic Canadians wanted carbon tax relief for all.

It’s a stunning decline for the provincial Liberals, especially given that they held office from 2017 to 2021, with 27 seats. Then in 2021, the Liberals lost to Premier Houston’s PC party, but formed opposition with 17 seats. 

Blue wave

Other than New Brunswick’s recent election which saw the Liberals boot the Conservatives out of power, a Conservative enclave surrounds the Liberal Prime Minister. 

With the return of Donald Trump south of the border and Conservative leaning Premiers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, PEI, Ontario, and Quebec, coupled with devastating federal by-election losses for the Liberals in Toronto St. Paul’s and LaSalle in Quebec, a Conservative wave is sweeping across Canada.