Nova Scotians go to the polls next week, and residents of Amherst will have the opportunity to vote for one of four candidates in the Cumberland North riding, just across the provincial border.
CHMA reached out to all four candidates and heard back from Liberal candidate Kurt Ditner and incumbent Elizabeth Smith McCrossin, who is running independently.
The Nova Scotia NDP’s Tyson Boyd declined an interview and the Nova Scotia PC party’s Bill Dowe did not respond.
Kurt Ditner, Nova Scotia Liberal Party
Kurt Ditner says he’s been a lifelong Liberal, and after meeting Nova Scotia Liberal leader Zach Churchill at an event a few months ago, was inspired to apply as Cumberland North candidate.
Ditner is a former insurance broker who retired to Nova Scotia after a living and working in Quebec and Ontario. He says he’s interested in Liberal policies aimed at making life more affordable by protecting renters, increasing housing supply, and getting rid of the consumer gas tax. And of course, he wants to see improvements to health care, particularly in the Cumberland North riding.
Here’s our interview with Kurt Dinner:
Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, independent
Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin was first elected in 2017 as a Progressive Conservative MLA, but was kicked out of the PC caucus in the summer of 2021 for her role in a highway blockade in protest of provincial border restrictions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith-McCrossin is a registered nurse with concerns about the management of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. She’s a fiscal conservative, who criticizes the current Nova Scotia PC government for deficit spending since it was elected in 2021. She’s also critical of the dominance of Halifax in the power balance of Nova Scotia politics.
Here’s our interview with Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin:
The Nova Scotia election takes place November 26.
