1974 Nova Scotia general election

The 1974 Nova Scotia general election was held on 2 April 1974 to elect members of the 51st House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Liberal Party.

1974 Nova Scotia general election

← 1970 April 2, 1974 1978 →
← outgoing members members →
46 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 24 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	77.89% 0.57pp
First party Second party Third party   Lib PC NDP Leader Gerald Regan John Buchanan Jeremy Akerman Party Liberal Progressive Conservative New Democratic Leader since July 24, 1965 March 6, 1971 November 9, 1968 Leader's seat Halifax Needham Halifax Atlantic Cape Breton East Last election 23 21 2 Seats won 31 12 3 Seat change 8 9 1 Popular vote 206,648 166,388 55,902 Percentage 47.57% 38.31% 12.87% Swing 1.94pp 8.12pp 6.28pp
Premier before election Gerald Regan Liberal Premier after election Gerald Regan Liberal

Results

Results by party

↓

31	12	3
Liberal	Progressive Conservative	New Democratic

Official results ^[1][2]

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				1970	Dissolution	Elected	Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Liberal	Gerald Regan	46	23	24	31	+8	206,648	47.57%	+1.94%
	Progressive Conservative	John Buchanan	46	21	19	12	-9	166,388	38.31%	-8.12%
	New Democratic	Jeremy Akerman	46	2	2	3	+1	55,902	12.87%	+6.28%
	Independent		6	0	1	0	0	2,220	0.51%	+0.13%
	Vacant				0
Total valid votes								431,158	99.26%	+0.23%
Blank and invalid ballots								3,205	0.74%	-0.23%
Total			144	46	46	46	–	434,363	100.00%	–
Registered voters / turnout								507,190	77.89%[3]	+0.57%

Popular vote Liberal   47.57% PC   38.31% New Democratic   12.87% Independent   0.51%

Seats summary Liberal   67.39% PC   26.09% New Democratic   6.52%

Results by region

Party name			HRM	Cape Breton	Annapolis Valley	South Shore	Fundy-Northeast	Central Nova	Total
Parties winning seats in the legislature
	Liberal	Seats:	8	6	6	4	4	3	31
		Popular vote:	48.73%	42.68%	51.25%	51.37%	48.19%	48.05%	47.57%
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	2	1	2	3	2	2	12
		Popular vote:	38.34%	32.67%	42.11%	39.63%	42.33%	41.57%	38.31%
	New Democratic Party	Seats:	0	3	0	0	0	0	3
		Popular vote:	12.93%	24.21%	6.64%	6.48%	9.06%	10.37%	12.87%
Parties not winning seats in the legislature
	Independent	Popular vote:	–	0.45%	–	2.52%	0.42%	–	0.51%
Total seats:			10	10	8	7	6	5	46

Retiring incumbents

Liberal

• James L. Connolly, Halifax Chebucto
• Ralph F. Fiske, Pictou Centre
• A. Lloyd MacDonald, Pictou East
• George Riley, Halifax Cobequid

Progressive Conservative

• Gerald Doucet, Richmond
• Floyd MacDonald, Queens
• George Isaac Smith, Colchester
• Victor Thorpe, Kings North
• Maurice L. Zinck, Lunenburg East

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Independent
Annapolis East		Hank De Boer 2,583 43.48%		Gerry Sheehy 3,134 52.76%		Murray A. Bent 223 3.75%				Gerry Sheehy
Annapolis West		Peter M. Nicholson 2,636 53.00%		J.R. Kerr 2,150 43.22%		David N. Lowe 188 3.78%				Peter M. Nicholson
Clare		Benoit Comeau 2,959 61.07%		Vincent L. Doucet 1,218 25.14%		Jean L. Belliveau 668 13.79%				Benoit Comeau
Digby		Joseph H. Casey 3,525 65.90%		John R. Nichols 1,590 29.73%		C.B. Haight 234 4.37%				Joseph H. Casey
Hants West		Robert D. Lindsay 4,148 48.07%		Ron Russell 3,707 42.96%		Gary E. Tonks 774 8.97%				Robert D. Lindsay
Kings North		Glenn Ells 3,536 49.39%		David J. Waterbury 3,124 43.63%		George W. Graves 500 6.98%				Victor Thorpe†
Kings South		Edgar K. Aston 1,999 33.11%		Harry How 3,576 59.22%		John P. O'Meara 463 7.67%				Harry How
Kings West		Frank Bezanson 5,031 58.34%		Kathleen E. Howlett 3,206 37.23%		Donald Wolsey 374 4.34%				Frank Bezanson

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Independent
Lunenburg Centre		James Kinley 3,878 39.08%		Bruce Cochran 4,086 41.18%		Ralph E. Deamond 421 4.24%		Walton Cook 1,538 15.50%		Walton Cook
Lunenburg East		Joseph Saunders 1,963 41.06%		Ron Barkhouse 2,536 53.04%		Anthony W.E. Zinck 282 5.90%				Maurice L. Zinck†
Lunenburg West		Maurice DeLory 3,635 54.92%		Ella Spence 2,643 39.93%		William R. Griswold 341 5.15%				Maurice DeLory
Queens		R. Keith Wyer 2,649 40.58%		John Wickwire 2,905 44.50%		A.J. d'Entremont 974 14.92%				Floyd MacDonald†
Shelburne		Harold Huskilson 4,119 47.58%		Ron Hatfield 3,732 43.11%		Dewey Waybret 806 9.31%				Harold Huskilson
Yarmouth		Fraser Mooney 8,098 32.87%		Martin Cottreau 4,029 16.35%		Lawrence Dukeshire 637 2.59%				Fraser Mooney
		Hugh Tinkham 7,068 28.69%		George A. Snow 4,300 17.45%		Leslie Babin 504 2.05%				George A. Snow

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Independent
Colchester		Melinda MacLean 9,514 25.87%		Gerald Ritcey 7,182 19.53%		Eda Forsythe 1,515 4.12%		Bob Kirk 159 0.43%		Gerald Ritcey
		Floyd Tucker 8,662 23.55%		Ron Giffin 7,974 21.68%		Allan Marchbank 1,771 4.82%				George Isaac Smith†
Cumberland Centre		Guy Brown 2,283 52.16%		Raymond M. Smith 1,601 36.58%		Elory Tabor 493 11.26%				Raymond M. Smith
Cumberland East		Ronald S. MacNeil 3,490 40.82%		Roger Stuart Bacon 4,125 48.25%		David W. D'Aubin 934 10.93%				Roger Stuart Bacon
Cumberland West		W.J. Brown 2,205 45.86%		D. L. George Henley 2,323 48.32%		A. Bradley Colpitts 280 5.82%				D. L. George Henley
Hants East		Jack Hawkins 3,322 49.88%		Avard Ettinger 2,690 40.39%		Clair White 549 8.24%		John G. Stanhope Sr. 99 1.49%		Jack Hawkins

Halifax/Dartmouth/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Independent
Halifax Atlantic		Darrell E. Wentzell 4,380 35.90%		John Buchanan 6,229 51.06%		Colin Campbell 1,591 13.04%				John Buchanan
Halifax Chebucto		Walter Fitzgerald 5,608 53.47%		Dennis Ashworth 3,233 30.82%		Burris Devanney 1,648 15.71%				James L. Connolly†
Halifax Citadel		Ronald Wallace 4,299 48.73%		Richard MacLean 3,071 34.81%		Michael Bradfield 1,452 16.46%				Ronald Wallace
Halifax Cobequid		George Doucet 8,691 49.57%		Silvia Hudson 6,878 39.23%		George C. Cann 1,964 11.20%				George Riley†
Halifax Cornwallis		George M. Mitchell 5,391 47.52%		George T.H. Cooper 3,833 33.79%		Muriel Duckworth 2,121 18.70%				George M. Mitchell
Halifax Eastern Shore		Alexander Garnet Brown 6,437 52.90%		Hanson D. Josey 4,205 34.56%		John T. Kennedy 1,527 12.55%				Alexander Garnet Brown
Halifax Needham		Gerald Regan 4,364 61.49%		James H. Vaughan 1,854 26.12%		Martin Dolin 879 12.39%				Gerald Regan
Halifax-St. Margaret's		Leonard L. Pace 7,238 47.87%		George C. Piercey 6,084 40.24%		Richard Rogers 1,798 11.89%				Leonard L. Pace
Dartmouth North		Glen M. Bagnell 7,091 51.41%		Richard L. Weldon 4,839 35.08%		Joseph Bouchard 1,863 13.51%				Glen M. Bagnell
Dartmouth South		D. Scott MacNutt 5,871 44.24%		Roland J. Thornhill 6,491 48.91%		Norman H. Dares 908 6.84%				D. Scott MacNutt

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Independent
Antigonish		Bill Gillis 5,141 56.88%		Ronald A. MacDonald 3,172 35.09%		Patrick D. Gough 726 8.03%				Bill Gillis
Guysborough		A.M. "Sandy" Cameron 3,688 55.66%		Fenwick MacIntosh 2,652 40.02%		William Sugg 286 4.32%				A.M. "Sandy" Cameron
Pictou Centre		Lawrence MacKinnon 4,954 42.54%		Fraser MacLean 5,100 43.80%		Dave MacKenzie 1,591 13.66%				Ralph F. Fiske†
Pictou East		J. Lester MacLellan 2,945 42.09%		Donald Cameron 3,217 45.98%		Joanne E. Kohout 835 11.93%				A. Lloyd MacDonald†
Pictou West		Dan Reid 2,624 43.99%		Harvey Veniot 2,602 43.62%		Charles Parker 739 12.39%				Harvey Veniot

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Independent
Cape Breton Centre		Albert J. Boudreau 1,703 21.76%		Mike Laffin 2,743 35.05%		Buddy MacEachern 3,380 43.19%				Mike Laffin
Cape Breton East		Vincent Kachafanas 3,443 30.83%		Frederick Adshade 1,611 14.43%		Jeremy Akerman 5,929 53.10%		Archie MacDonald 183 1.64%		Jeremy Akerman
Cape Breton North		Barry LeBlanc 4,155 33.57%		Tom MacKeough 4,889 39.50%		Len J. Arsenault 3,333 26.93%				Tom MacKeough
Cape Breton Nova		Ronald DiPenta 1,275 17.19%		Percy Gaum 2,334 31.46%		Paul MacEwan 3,809 51.35%				Paul MacEwan
Cape Breton South		Vince MacLean 6,487 50.87%		John Francis Burke 3,721 29.18%		Earl Johnston 2,441 19.14%		Angus Currie 102 0.80%		John Francis Burke
Cape Breton West		Allan Sullivan 6,281 53.46%		Kenneth Andrews 3,199 27.23%		Frank Boone 2,269 19.31%				Allan Sullivan
Inverness		William MacEachern 5,606 26.50%		Norman J. MacLean 4,832 22.84%		Donald MacKay 621>br>2.94%		Catherine M. Haig 139 0.66%		Norman J. MacLean
		John Archie MacKenzie 5,403 25.54%		Joseph Shannon 4,088 19.32%		Winston Bennett 466 2.20%				John Archie MacKenzie
Richmond		Gaston LeBlanc 3,697 57.62%		Joseph Stewart 2,138 33.32%		Stanley Pashkoski 581 9.06%				Gerald Doucet†
Victoria		Maynard MacAskill 2,573 59.44%		Fisher Hudson 1,542 35.62%		Colin A. Gillis 214 4.94%				Fisher Hudson

References

1. "Election Returns 1974" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
2. "Election Returns 1974 Recapitulation" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
3. While 434,363 votes were cast, only 395,028 electors voted as Colchester, Inverness and Yarmouth electors voted for two candidates.

Further reading

• Saywell, John, ed. (1976). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1974. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802021960.