Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley

About the riding:

Population: 87,982 (2011 Census)

Size: 10,086km/sq

Cumberland Colchester Musquodoboit Valley is a mostly rural riding on the south coast of the Northumberland Strait. It borders New Brunswick in the northwest and contains Cumberland and Colchester counties and part of the regional municipality of Halifax. Towns in the riding include Amherst, Springhill, Oxford, Parrsboro, Truro, and Stewiacke. The Millbrook reserve is also in the riding.

There are Federal penitentiaries in Springhill and Truro. Much of the rest of the riding’s economy consists of small businesses, a service sector, and textile manufacturing.

Just over 96 per cent of the population cites English as the mother tongue. The total immigrant population is less than four per cent, according to the 2006 census. The average family income is $58,555 and unemployment is nine per cent.

Since the Cumberland-Colchester riding was established in 1966, it has been held by the PC and Conservative parties for all but 5 years. Bob Coates served as Member of Parliament from the riding’s creation until his retirement in 1988; Bill Casey represented it from 1988 -1993, and again from 1997 until his retirement in 2009. Dianne Brushett held the seat for one term beginning in 1993.