HALIFAX — The entire province of Nova Scotia was painted red when all 11 federal districts voted in Liberal candidates during the 2015 election, but it remains to be seen whether any other parties can pull off a change this Monday.

On Oct. 21, Canadians and Nova Scotians alike head to the voting booth to cast ballots for their new federal representatives. Polls are suggesting it’s too close to call for more than half of the races in N.S., with toss ups declared between Liberal and Conservative or NDP candidates in six ridings.

Nova Scotia appears to be following the national trend. After millions of Canadians voted in advance polls over the Thanksgiving weekend, a very tight race is expected on election day, with a strong possibility that the nation will see a minority government situation with neither the Conservatives or Liberals gathering enough seats to form a majority.

Polling stations are open for 12 hours across Canada on Monday, and in Nova Scotia they run from 8:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Atlantic time.

Visit the Elections Canada website at elections.ca to find more information on your riding, what ID you need to vote, and by entering your address the website will redirect you to your correct polling station.

You can also look up candidate profiles on the Star’s website by entering your postal code in the interactive map.

Dartmouth — Cole Harbour

The former seat of Halifax’s current mayor, Mike Savage, Dartmouth — Cole Harbour has flip-flopped between Liberals and NDP for more than 30 years and, according to poll aggregator 338Canada, it was a dead heat between the two parties the weekend ahead of Monday’s election.

Liberal incumbent Darren Fisher – a former Halifax regional councillor – is up against NDP candidate Emma Norton, who worked for the Halifax-based environmental advocacy group, Ecology Action Centre, until kicking off her campaign.

Local restaurateur and former mayoral hopeful Lil MacPherson is trying for the Greens, the Conservative name on the ballot is Jason Cole and Michelle Lindsay runs for the People’s Party.

Halifax

Like with the riding across the harbour, 388Canada was calling Halifax a Liberal-NDP toss-up in the immediate lead-up to election day. Between Alexa McDonough and Megan Leslie, the riding was an NDP stronghold from 1997 to 2015, but Leslie lost to city planner Andy Fillmore in the 2015 Liberal sweep of Atlantic Canada.

Incumbent Fillmore has been campaigning against the NDP’s Christine Saulnier — the former Nova Scotia director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-wing think tank. Their other opponents are Bruce Holland for the Conservatives, Jo-Ann Roberts for the Greens (she’s also the party’s deputy leader), Duncan McGenn for the People’s Party and Bill Wilson for the Animal Protection Party.

Halifax West

Liberal House Speaker Geoff Regan was elected to represent Halifax West in 1993 and has held it for the Liberal party, save for a three-year hiatus after a 1997 election loss, ever since.

The populous suburban riding has the shortest ticket in the province, with no one from the People’s Party or any fringe party as candidates. Those trying to oust Regan are Fred Shuman for the Conservatives, Jacob Wilson for the NDP and Halifax regional councillor Richard Zurawski for the Greens.

Sackville — Preston — Chezzetcook

Polls are predicting this riding should be another tight race between a Liberal incumbent who rode in on the last election’s red tide to overtake a NDP stronghold.

Darrell Samson, an Acadien former superintendent for the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (Nova Scotia’s French school board) has been MP for the riding since 2015 when he knocked off long-time NDP representative Peter Stoffer.

According to 338Canada, this riding remained a toss up just two days before Monday’s election, with Samson nearly tied with NDP candidate and navy veteran Matt Stickland.

Others looking to take the riding are Kevin Copley for the Conservatives, Anthony Edmonds for the Greens, and Sybil Hogg for the People’s Party.

Cape Breton — Canso

With the departure of longtime Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner, Cape Breton — Canso is one of five Nova Scotia ridings that’s wide open for the 2019 federal election. Cuzner held the seat for almost 20 years and won handily in 2015, with 74 per cent of the vote, but announced in the spring that he wouldn’t re-offer.

Alfie MacLeod is trying to take the seat for Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives, and gave up his seat at the provincial legislature to do so. The former Progressive Conservative MLA made a federal bid once before, losing to Cuzner in the 2000 election, but has since padded his political resumé with three-and-a-half terms as an MLA.

MacLeod is up against Mike Kelloway for the Liberals, Laurie Suitor for the NDP, Clive Doucet for the Greens, Billy Joyce for the People’s Party, Darlene Lynn Leblanc for the National Citizens Alliance and Michelle Dockrill, running as an Independent.

Central Nova

It’s one of the smallest districts in the province by population, but the largest by area. Central Nova covers more than 10,000 square-kilometres, spanning North to South from the Northumberland Strait to the Eastern Shore, and kissing both the outskirts of Halifax Regional Municipality and Cape Breton Island.

A political dynasty ended in 2015 when Conservative heavy-weight Peter MacKay announced his political retirement; he and his father Elmer MacKay held the riding blue for the better part of four decades.

But, like the rest of the province, Central Nova turned Liberal red in 2015. Former lawyer and rookie MP Sean Fraser is trying to keep the seat, running against the Conservative’s George Canyon — a country singer who moved to Alberta when his music career took off 15 years ago.

Also trying for the seat are Barry Randle for the Greens, Al Muir for the People’s Party, Betsy MacDonald for the NDP, Chris Frazer for the Communist Party and Independent Michael Slowik.

Cumberland — Colchester

Bill Casey has won this seat seven times since the mid-1990s under three different banners – the Progressive Conservatives, the Conservatives and the Liberals – but leaves it open to new contenders this year.

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Lenore Zann quit the provincial NDP after a decade as an MLA (and a 2016 bid at party leadership) to run for the Liberals, saying she didn’t think the federal New Democrats had a chance at victory.

Her federal NDP opponent is Larry Duchesne, Scott Armstrong runs for the Conservatives, Jason Blanch for the Greens, William Archer for the People’s Party, Jody O’Blenis for the Veterans Coalition and Matthew Rushton as an Independent.

Also on the ticket is Stephen Garvey, the leader of the Calgary-based, far-right National Citizens Alliance — a group that has been met with anti-Fascist protestors in its attempts at public demonstrations across the province for the past 18 months.

Kings — Hants

The race for Kings-Hants is wide open after long-time Liberal Scott Brison, who held the seat for 22 years, announced this winter he would not be running again in order to spend time with his husband and young twins.

According to 338Canada, the district containing Hants County, part of Kings County and eastern parts of Kings County along the Bay of Fundy will likely remain Liberal red.

Polls are projecting Liberal candidate Kody Blois who is under 30 and has a background in commerce, law, and public administration, will win handily.

Vying to switch up the area’s party colours are Martha Macquarrie for the Conservatives, Stephen Schneider for the NDP, Brogan Anderson for the Greens, and the People’s Party has tapped Matthew Southall.

South Shore — St. Margarets

Liberal incumbent Bernadette Jordan is vying to hang onto the seat she won last election. Jordan was appointed the Minister of Rural Economic Development in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet this year, and also introduced a members’ motion to address abandoned vessels across the country which was passed unanimously in 2016.

The polls are projecting Jordan should keep her seat according to 338 Canada, but looking to challenge for the riding are Conservative candidate Rick Perkins, Jessika Hepburn for the NDP, Green candidate Thomas Trappenberg, and Robert Monk for the People’s Party.

Before Jordan, Conservative Gerald Keddy held the seat for many years. The riding stretches from the western edge of the Halifax region down the South Shore to the southern tip of the province including Lunenburg, Queens, and Shelburne counties.

Sydney — Victoria

It’s another tight race for this Cape Breton riding, left open this election after long-time Liberal MP Mark Eyking decided this year he wouldn’t be re-offering. Eyking first won in 2000.

Jamie Battiste, a Mi’kmaw man from Eskasoni First Nation, is looking to make history as Nova Scotia’s first Indigenous MP if elected for the Liberals. Following a law degree and work as a Mi’kmaw rights advocate, Battiste worked as the Nova Scotia Treaty Education Lead.

Polls are predicting a toss up between Battiste and Conservative candidate Eddie Orrell (who stepped down from his provincial seat seat as Progressive Conservative MLA to run federally), according to 388Canada.

Others running for the seat are NDP candidate Jodi McDavid, and Lois Fraser for the Greens.

West Nova

Another former Progressive Conservative provincial MLA, Chris d’Entremont, has taken up the federal Conservative banner but is facing a new Liberal face as incumbent MP Colin Fraser decided not to reoffer after serving one term.

This time, the Liberals have Jason Deveau on the ticket, who previously worked as Fraser’s executive assistant. The area has gone back and forth between Conservatives and Liberals over the past few decades and includes the counties of Annapolis, Digby, Yarmouth, and the western part of Kings County.

The race is projected as a toss up between Deveau and d’Entremont, according to 338 Canada, but other candidates hoping to change that are Matthew Dubois for the NDP, and Judy N. Green for the Greens.

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