The winner of the nomination was Claude Bourgeois who was born and raised in Cheticamp.
-by Augusta Hoffman and April MacDonald
About 400 provincial progressive conservatives turned out on Monday night, along with the Honourable Timothy Halman, MLA for Dartmouth.
He is Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Minister of Service Efficiency, and Chair of Treasury and Policy Board.
Nominee Doug Chiasson is graduate from Cape Breton Highlands Education Centre and went on to study political science in Ottawa. He has worked on Parliament Hill. He said that during his time in Ottawa he worked on issues near and dear to the people of the Cheticamp-the Margarees-Pleasant Bay such as issues pertaining to fisheries and oceans.
Chaisson also worked in the federal candidacy in 2015.
A priority for him is making sure that young families are well represented so that they can continue to afford to live here.
“So that people’s kids can have the opportunity to say they graduated from the same high school their parents graduated from,” said Chaisson.
His wife and two children accompanied him at the event.
The winner of the nomination was Claude Bourgeois who was born and raised in Cheticamp.
He focused on protecting Acadian culture and language and standing up for rural Nova Scotia.
Bourgeois served as president of local organizations including Le Portage Golf Course and the Cheticamp Arena. He spent years sitting on boards with community leaders, business owners, and government officials working through difficult challenges that affect their area.
He worked closely to help represent the concerns of working class people, for instance in industries such as trucking.
Bourgeois said he plans on giving practical and common sense leadership.
“I am not a career politician. I’m someone who has spent a lifetime working managing businesses, creating jobs, volunteering, listening to people. I know what it means to worry about losing jobs,” he explained.
“Labour shortages, keeping small business alive, and making sure our young people have opportunities here at home, instead of feeling forced to leave Cape Breton. Our communities deserve a strong voice in Halifax. A voice that understands rural roads, fishing, communities, tourism, forestry, trucking, seniors’ concerns, healthcare, and challenges facing local families every day,” said Bourgeois.
“I believe in practical solutions, common sense leadership, and working respectfully with people, even when we don’t always agree. Politics should not be about division. It should be about results. It should be about making life better for the people we represent,” he closed.
A date has not yet been set for the by-election.