{"id":7883,"date":"2024-11-22T18:26:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T22:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7883"},"modified":"2024-11-25T15:46:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T19:46:29","slug":"trying-to-beat-masland-in-queens-a-tough-but-rewarding-job-challengers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/11\/22\/trying-to-beat-masland-in-queens-a-tough-but-rewarding-job-challengers-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Trying to beat Masland in Queens tough but rewarding, challengers say"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_7885\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7885\" class=\"size-large wp-image-7885\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/candidatecollage-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/candidatecollage-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/candidatecollage-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/candidatecollage-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/candidatecollage.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7885\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liberal Cathy De Rome, PC incumbent Kim Masland and New Democrat Brian Skabar are running in Queens in the Nova Scotia election. (Rick Conrad, Nova Scotia NDP)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The two people hoping to unseat popular MLA Kim Masland in Queens admit it\u2019s an uphill battle, but they say they\u2019ve been hearing good things from voters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/liberal.ns.ca\/candidate\/cathy-de-rome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cathy De Rome<\/a> is running for the Liberals and <a href=\"https:\/\/brianskabar.nsndp.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brian Skabar<\/a> is trying to take the seat back for the NDP in Tuesday\u2019s provincial election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Masland is trying for a repeat in a riding she captured in 2021 for the Progressive Conservatives with 70 per cent of the vote. Before that, the riding was Queens-Shelburne, which Masland won in 2017 with almost 44 per cent of the vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Election Day is Tues., Nov. 26. But Queens County residents can vote early at the returning office on Market Street in Liverpool or at the North Queens Fire Hall in Caledonia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When the election was called on Oct. 27, the Tories had 34 seats, the Liberals had 14, the NDP had 6 and there was one independent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PARTY PLATFORMS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcpartyns.ca\/makeithappen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Progressive Conservatives<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/liberal.ns.ca\/platform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liberals<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsndp.ca\/action-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NDP<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">De Rome lives in Beach Meadows and is a retired elementary school teacher. She\u2019s also the president of the Queens Liberal association. Skabar is originally from Amherst, but now lives near Caledonia. He is a retired social worker and a former NDP MLA for Cumberland North.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">De Rome and Skabar say that they know it\u2019s going to be tough to defeat Masland. But they say it\u2019s important to run.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cOur democracy is only as strong as the people who participate in it,&#8221; De Rome said in a recent interview. &#8220;And I want people to become involved and find out what the issues are and how they can work at participating and hopefully making things better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cKim is very popular and she has been doing it a long time. But just maybe it\u2019s time for a change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Skabar says he\u2019s knocked on 40 to 50 doors a day during the campaign. And even though he\u2019s new to the area, he says he\u2019s been getting positive feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cTo my surprise, only having been here for two years, either people in Queens County are really, really kind, 0r I might have half a chance,&#8221; he said in an interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThree out of five doors that I knock one are supportive of New Democrats. Our incumbent here is quite popular individually but I don\u2019t think people are really crazy about Tim Houston.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Masland could not be reached for an interview. But in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/1087883366219881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video posted on her Facebook page<\/a>, she said she\u2019s knocked on more than 5,000 doors in the campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She also posted that the Houston government has hired more doctors, helped build more affordable housing, and made record investments in road and bridge infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">De Rome says that while many voters say they\u2019re not happy with the state of health care, housing and affordability, they haven&#8217;t asked her much about she or the <a href=\"https:\/\/liberal.ns.ca\/platform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liberals plan<\/a> to address it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPeople will complain. When the other day I said to a man, &#8216;Do you have any questions?&#8217; He said no. And so I said, &#8216;Are you happy with things?&#8217; &#8216;Not really&#8217;. So i<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">t just didn\u2019t quite make sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">De Rome points to the Liberal plan to build more homes using the co-operative housing model, open more collaborative care clinics around the province, and to forgive part of certain health-care workers\u2019 student loans for up to five years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe are getting more doctors, it seems, but people are still having long waits in emergency. &#8230; To sit in emergency for nine-plus hours to have a prescription renewed is ridiculous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The NDP had been a force in the traditionally Conservative riding of Queens from 2006 to 2013. Sterling Belliveau hung on to the seat for the party in 2013 when it was changed to Queens-Shelburne.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the NDP haven\u2019t had much of a presence since Belliveau retired before the 2017 election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Skabar says he\u2019s hearing from voters who are upset about Premier Tim Houston\u2019s early election call. He says voters have told him they like some parts of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcpartyns.ca\/makeithappen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the PC plan<\/a>. But they wonder why the party needed an election to do that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Skabar adds that Masland has done a good job getting roadwork done in Queens County.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI only just met Kim last week at the community dinner here in Caledonia. And really, what\u2019s not to like? Actually, she\u2019s a good member. But the government that she represents is not doing a good job for Nova Scotia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Liberals\u2019 De Rome says that no matter which party people support, she hopes they get out and vote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI would consider it an honour if they chose to elect me. I&#8217;ve never thought of doing this, but I am enjoying it. People have been very receptive when I\u2019ve talked to them. \u2026 I hope people take the chance to get out and vote. It\u2019s important. Go out and vote, put your X in the spot where you think would do the most good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can vote early at the returning office in your area until 8 p.m. on Friday or until 6 p.m. on Saturday and Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you don\u2019t know where your Election Day voting location is, you can use the Where do I Vote tool on <a href=\"https:\/\/electionsnovascotia.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Elections Nova Scotia website at electionsnovascotia.ca<\/a> or call 1-800-565-1504. Polls will be open on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Email: <a href=\"mailto:rickconradqccr@gmail.com\">rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7883-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/queensridingstorynov2224.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/queensridingstorynov2224.mp3\">https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/queensridingstorynov2224.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two people hoping to unseat popular MLA Kim Masland in Queens admit it\u2019s an uphill battle, but they say they\u2019ve been hearing good things from voters. Cathy De Rome is running for the Liberals and Brian Skabar is trying to take the seat back for the NDP in Tuesday\u2019s provincial election. Masland is trying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2646,2650,2647,316,354,31,290,345,346,100,101,1773,359,2648,2587,2649],"class_list":["post-7883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-brian-skabar","tag-candidates","tag-cathy-de-rome","tag-election","tag-elections-nova-scotia","tag-kim-masland","tag-liberal","tag-ndp","tag-nova-scotia-election","tag-pc","tag-progressive-conservative","tag-provincial-election","tag-queens","tag-sterling-belliveau","tag-vote","tag-voters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7883"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7893,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7883\/revisions\/7893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}