‘We’ll have to wait and see’: Cheticamp area residents react to new N.S. riding

Cheticamp, N.S., will soon have a new provincial riding.

A newly introduced piece of legislation will create a provincial riding for Cheticamp, N.S., and surrounding communities, many of which are Acadian.

“I think it’s about time that we have some representation,” said Cheticamp-area resident Clifford Maillet. “Most of the time we’re neglected.”

The areas have for years been part of the Inverness riding, which will be split in two to create a new one called Cheticamp-Margarees-Pleasant Bay.

“We’ll have to wait and see, but hopefully things will improve economically, culturally.” said Daniel Aucoin, an on-air personality at CKJM, a community radio station in Cheticamp.

Aucoin said people in the area first requested their own riding more than 30 years ago and pointed out that some Acadian communities in Nova Scotia have long had their own seats in the legislature.

“In Richmond and Clare and Argyle, other Acadian regions of Nova Scotia and this area was denied,” Aucoin said.

The new riding will have fewer than 3,900 electors. Inverness, from which it is spltting, will have more than 10,600.

Some are optimistic about having more of a voice while others were not sure it will make much of a difference.

“Sometimes growing up in Cheticamp when it was part of Inverness (riding), maybe Cheticamp got a little bit neglected at certain points,” said resident Justin Aucoin.

As for who might represent the largely rural riding, the Nova Scotia government said it’s expected a byelection will be called within six months if not earlier to fill the new seat.

While language will be front and centre in the shaping of the new bilingual riding, some are hoping other issues will get attention.

“Roads, we’re on the famous Cabot Trail,” Maillet said. “The roads are pretty well a mess. Tourism, it’s a big part of the economy here.”

With the new riding, the number of seats in the Nova Scotia Legislature will now sit at 56.

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