BEN EOIN — Although he was running in a new riding, the results were the same for Liberal Jaime Battiste as he secured his third consecutive victory in a federal election.
Elected as the first Mi’kmaw Member of Parliament (MP) in the former Sydney-Victoria riding in 2019 – and again in 2021 – the Dalhousie law school graduate completed the electoral hat-trick on Monday night in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish.
“I am very proud – we faced a lot of adversity,” Battiste told reporters shortly after he was declared elected.
Despite word of his victory, he cautioned during the media scrum that the race with Conservative Allan MacMaster, who was fashioning what turned out to be a second-place finish was “too close to call,” while describing his “great joy” with the results.
“I am really proud of everything that we have done,” Battiste said, as he credited his campaign team for its performance in the new and expansive riding.
When it comes to that adversity he mentioned, it included his late entry as the Liberal candidate in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish, which didn’t become official until March 22.
With the re-drawing of districts by the most recent federal electoral boundaries commission, the ridings of Sydney-Victoria and Cape Breton-Canso – one held by his Liberal colleague Mike Kelloway – were no more. When the dust settled, both sitting MPs expressed their desire to run in the newly formed Sydney-Glace Bay in the next federal election.
“I wanted to be loyal to my constituents,” Battiste said of his initial preference, including those who voted for him in two previous federal elections.
With the federal realignment, the Eskasoni and Wagmatcook First Nations were removed from the newly formed Sydney-Glace Bay and made a part of Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish. Battiste challenged that move, deeming it unconstitutional and going against treaty rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Last fall, he announced that he lost his case and that he would be running in Sydney-Glace Bay.
His late entry into the Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish race, after the party decided that Kelloway (who was also elected Monday night) would carry the Liberal banner in Sydney-Glace Bay meant, he said, that he was “starting from scratch,” considering 75 per cent of voters in the new riding were not a part of his former constituency.
“It felt like I was running as a rookie,” Battiste said.
Filled with emotion, he paused before noting the loss of his “best friend” Arnold Sylliboy, who was also a key part of his campaign team. His passing in February was another thread of adversity he faced in recent months. He dedicated his victory to Sylliboy.
And, of course, he faced a strong slate of opponents, including MacMaster – a former Inverness MLA and long-time provincial cabinet minister for the Progressive Conservatives – who finished second. Joanna Clark (NDP), who placed a distant third, Ryan Smyth (People’s Party) and Rebecca Wall (Independent) were the other candidates.
“I knew it was going to be a heavyweight fight – a difficult one to win,” Battiste said of facing off against an experienced MacMaster.
As for the Inverness native, he told The Journal that he “couldn’t have been better positioned” to make a federal run, noting his established “good base of support,” and his track record and reputation as an elected representative. He offered that he believed people in the riding were “very tired” of the governing Liberals.
Although he thinks that there will be “a lot of disappointed people,” especially younger ones and members of the fishery, with the results – both locally and nationally – MacMaster conceded, “I have to accept [the outcome], and I do.”
When it comes to what he would have done differently in his campaign, he said, “Nothing,” while noting the “hard days and nights” that he and his team put in since he received the Conservative nomination in February in a contested three-way race.
As for his priorities as the first MP for Cape-Breton-Canso-Antigonish, Battiste – noting he experienced its inadequacies first-hand during the campaign – pointed to the need for “better cell service.”
He also touched on the importance of strengthening mainstay industries, such as the fisheries, forestry and farming. And, as he mentioned, tapping into the opportunities available in Canada’s “most beautiful” federal riding.
“I look forward to making sure that we continue to promote our economy, create growth, promote tourism, seafood, the golf, the scenery,” Battiste said.
As of press time, the unofficial results in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish – with 235 out of 245 polls reporting – had Battiste with 23,489 votes (51.3 per cent) and MacMaster at 19,900 (43.5). Joanna Clark received 1,838 (4 per cent), followed by Smyth, with 321 (0.7), and Wall, with 222 (0.5). Not including those who registered on election day, 45,770 of 64,251 registered voters (71.24 per cent) cast ballots in the riding.
