| Election Name: | 1998 Nova Scotia general election |
| Country: | Nova Scotia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Party Colour: | no |
| Party Name: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1993 Nova Scotia general election |
| Previous Year: | 1993 |
| Previous Mps: | 56th General Assembly of Nova Scotia |
| Election Date: | March 24, 1998 |
| Elected Mps: | members |
| Next Election: | 1999 Nova Scotia general election |
| Next Year: | 1999 |
| Next Mps: | 58th General Assembly of Nova Scotia |
| Seats For Election: | 52 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 27 |
| Turnout: | 69.47% 5.92pp |
| Leader1: | Russell MacLellan |
| Leader Since1: | July 12, 1997 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Cape Breton North |
| Last Election1: | 40 |
| Seats1: | 19 |
| Seat Change1: | 21 |
| Popular Vote1: | 158,380 |
| Percentage1: | 35.10% |
| Swing1: | 13.86pp |
| Leader2: | Robert Chisholm |
| Leader Since2: | March 30, 1996 |
| Leaders Seat2: | Halifax Atlantic |
| Last Election2: | 3 |
| Seats2: | 19 |
| Seat Change2: | 16 |
| Popular Vote2: | 155,361 |
| Percentage2: | 34.43% |
| Swing2: | 16.71pp |
| Leader3: | John Hamm |
| Leader Since3: | October 28, 1995 |
| Leaders Seat3: | Pictou Centre |
| Last Election3: | 9 |
| Seats3: | 14 |
| Seat Change3: | 5 |
| Popular Vote3: | 133,540 |
| Percentage3: | 29.60% |
| Swing3: | 1.49pp |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Premier | |
| Before Election: | Russell MacLellan |
| After Election: | Russell MacLellan |
| Posttitle: | Premier after election |
The 1998 Nova Scotia general election was held on March 24, 1998 to elect members of the 57th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Liberal party and the New Democratic Party tied in the seat count, with 19 each, while the Progressive Conservatives won 14 seats. The Liberals went on to form a minority government with the support of the Progressive Conservatives.
Liberal Premier John Savage was elected in a landslide in 1993. The Liberals inherited a $471-million deficit, and launched an austerity program which cut the province's health and education systems.[1] On April 1, 1997, the provincial government imposed a 15% Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) which merged the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). This shift angered some Nova Scotians who now had to pay taxes on things that had previously been exempted, such as home heating fuel. Savage also implemented an unpopular highway toll. Liberal party infighting eventually resulted in Savage's resignation in July 1997.[2] Russell MacLellan became Premier of Nova Scotia on July 18, 1997.
The governing Liberals were desperate to distance themselves from the Savage government which was viewed as deeply unpopular. New leader, Russell MacLellan, was made the focus of the campaign with all Liberal candidates signs displaying the phrase, "the MacLellan Liberals."[3]
During a televised debate on March 5, 1998, MacLellan stumbled badly when Progressive Conservative Leader John Hamm asked if he would resign if he failed to bring in a balanced budget. Instead of responding, MacLellan stared straight ahead and did not speak for seven seconds.[4] MacLellan blamed the pause on rigid debate rules. This moment marked a turning point in a race that saw the Liberals barely retain power.[5]
| Polling firm | Last day of survey | Source | LANS | NSNDP | PCNS | Other | Sample | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election 1998 | March 24, 1998 | 35.10 | 34.43 | 29.60 | 0.29 | ||||
| Omnifacts | January 1994 | [6] | 60 | 24 | 16 | ||||
| Election 1993 | May 25, 1993 | 48.96 | 17.72 | 31.09 | 1.53 |
| 19 | 19 | 14 | |
| Liberal | New Democratic | Progressive Conservative |
| Party leader |
| Seats | Popular vote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Dissolution | Elected | Change | % | Change (pp) | Liberal | Russell MacLellan | 52 | 40 | 35 | 19 | align="right" | -21 | 158,380 | 35.10% | align="right" | -13.86% | New Democratic | Robert Chisholm | 52 | 3 | 4 | 19 | +16 | 155,361 | 34.43% | +16.71% | Progressive Conservative | John Hamm | 52 | 9 | 9 | 14 | +5 | 133,540 | 29.60% | align="right" | -1.49% | Independent | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,325 | 0.29% | align="right" | -0.90% | ||
| Vacant | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total valid votes | 448,606 | 99.43% | +0.13% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blank and invalid ballots | 2,578 | 0.57% | align="right" | -0.13% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 163 | 52 | 52 | 52 | – | 451,184 | 100.00% | – | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 649,536 | 69.47% | align="right" | -5.92% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party name | HRM | C.B. | Valley | S. Shore | Fundy | Central | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parties winning seats in the legislature: | Liberal | Seats: | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 19 | Popular vote: | 34.46% | 44.91% | 32.54% | 35.30% | 29.31% | 31.42% | 35.34% | New Democratic Party | Seats: | 13 | 3 | align="right" | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 | Popular vote: | 43.94% | 38.02% | 25.44% | 28.09% | 25.57% | 27.41% | 34.61% | Progressive Conservative | Seats: | align="right" | - | align="right" | - | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | Popular vote: | 21.47% | 16.16% | 41.66% | 36.46% | 44.98% | 41.17% | 29.75% | |||||||||
| Parties not winning seats in the legislature: | Independents | Popular vote: | 0.13% | 0.91% | 0.36% | 0.15% | 0.14% | align="right" | - | 0.30% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total seats: | 17 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Annapolis|||Laurie Montgomery
3,448
36.96%||Basil Stewart
3,198
34.28%||John Kinsella
2,468
26.46%||Bob Mann
215
2.30%|||Earle Rafuse †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Clare|||Wayne Gaudet
2,950
47.28%||Guy LeBlanc
2,578
41.32%||Vanessa Paddock
711
11.40%|||||Wayne Gaudet|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Digby—Annapolis||John Drish
2,232
33.71%|||Gordon Balser
2,465
37.22%||Steve Downes
1,925
29.07%|||||Joseph H. Casey† |-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Hants West||Debbi Bowes
2,596
27.35%|||Ron Russell
4,507
47.48%||Dana Harvey
2,390
25.18%|||||Ron Russell|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kings North||Jennifer Foster
2,457
27.09%|||George Archibald
3,760
41.45%||Neil H. McNeil
2,854
31.46%|||||George Archibald|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kings South|||Robbie Harrison
3,650
36.46%||David Morse
3,069
30.65%||Mary DeWolfe
3,293
32.89%|||||Robbie Harrison|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kings West||Baden Thurber
1,684
20.60%|||George Moody
5,075
62.09%||Jacquie DeMestral
1,414
17.30%|||||George Moody|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Argyle||Allister Surette
1,891
33.47%|||Neil LeBlanc
3,028
53.59%||Diane E. Cromwell
651
11.52%||Oscar Harris
80
1.42%|||Allister Surette|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Chester—St. Margaret's||Jim Barkhouse
3,153
34.10%|||Hinrich Bitter-Suermann
3,256
35.22%||Doris Maley
2,837
30.68%|||||Jim Barkhouse|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lunenburg||Lila O'Connor
3,099
34.62%|||Michael Baker
3,231
36.10%||Marilyn B. Crook
2,621
29.28%|||||Lila O'Connor|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lunenburg West|||Don Downe
4,364
47.95%||Lou Centa
2,027
22.27%||Eric Hustvedt
2,711
29.78%|||||Don Downe|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Queens||Tery Doucette
2,072
31.42%|||John Leefe
3,582
54.32%||Basil L. Giffin
940
14.26%|||||John Leefe|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Shelburne|||Clifford Huskilson
3,144
38.57%||Cecil O'Donnell
2,835
34.78%||Derek Jones
2,173
26.66%|||||Clifford Huskilson|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Yarmouth ||Richie Hubbard
2,212
25.22%||Alex McIntosh
2,629
29.97%|||John Deveau
3,931
44.81%|| |||Richie Hubbard|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley||Dick Steeves
1,587
18.31%|||Brooke Taylor
5,122
59.08%||Jim Harpell
1,960
22.61%|||||Brooke Taylor|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Colchester North|||Ed Lorraine
3,301
39.13%||Andy Williamson
2,511
29.77%||Janet Maybee
2,623
31.10%|||||Ed Lorraine|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cumberland North||Russell Scott
2,438
27.89%|||Ernie Fage
5,451
62.35%||Peter Stewart
854
9.77%|||||Ernie Fage|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cumberland South||Mike Uberoi
2,153
26.81%|||Murray Scott
4,714
58.69%||Sandy Graham
1,089
13.56%||James MacLeod
76
0.95%|||Guy Brown †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Hants East||Jim W. Smith
3,377
35.32%||Lawrin Armstrong
2,010
21.02%|||John MacDonell
4,175
43.66%|||||Bob Carruthers †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Truro—Bible Hill||Eleanor Norrie
2,560
27.94%|||Jamie Muir
3,852
42.03%||Ibel Scammell
2,752
30.03%|||||Eleanor Norrie|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Halifax Bedford Basin|||Gerry Fogarty
4,246
40.10%||Michael Maddalena
2,530
23.89%||Errol Gaum
3,813
36.01%|||||Gerry Fogarty|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Halifax Chebucto||Kenzie MacKinnon
3,165
35.51%||Sean Phillips
1,590
17.84%|||Howard Epstein
4,158
46.65%|| |||Jay Abbass †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Halifax Citadel||Ed Kinley
4,377
39.53%||Tara Erskine
2,175
19.64%|||Peter Delefes
4,414
39.87%||Art Canning
106
0.96%|||Ed Kinley|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Halifax Fairview||Bob Britton
2,597
30.03%||Brian Nash
1,402
16.21%|||Eileen O'Connell
4,649
53.76%|||||Eileen O'Connell|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Halifax Needham||Gerry O'Malley
2,506
30.31%||Artho Kartsaklis
924
11.18%|||Maureen MacDonald
4,837
58.51%|| |||Gerry O'Malley|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bedford—Fall River|||Francene Cosman
4,205
37.58%||Peter Christie
3,892
34.79%||Marvin Silver
3,091
27.63%|||||Francene Cosman|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Halifax Atlantic||Darren Watts
2,818
29.31%||Jeff Campbell
1,340
13.94%|||Robert Chisholm
5,364
55.79%||Golda M. Redden
93
0.97%|||Robert Chisholm|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Sackville—Beaver Bank||Bill MacDonald
3,128
33.16%||Stephen Taylor
2,485
26.34%|||Rosemary Godin
3,821
40.50%|||||Bill MacDonald|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Sackville—Cobequid||Jack Brill
2,131
22.61%||Rob Batherson
1,383
14.68%|||John Holm
5,909
62.71%|||||John Holm|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Timberlea—Prospect||Bruce Holland
3,308
33.34%||Tom Robertson
1,852
18.67%|||Bill Estabrooks
4,762
47.99%|||||Bruce Holland|-|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cole Harbour—Eastern Passage||Randy Anstey
3,303
34.25%||Linda DeGrace
1,931
20.02%|||Kevin Deveaux
4,411
45.73%|||||Dennis Richards †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dartmouth—Cole Harbour ||Alan Mitchell
2,986
33.98%||Michael L. MacDonald
2,084
23.72%|||Darrell Dexter
3,717
42.30%|| |||Alan Mitchell|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dartmouth East|||Jim Smith
3,326
40.92%||Ralph Hawley
1,849
22.75%||Viola Huntington
2,954
36.34%|||||Jim Smith|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dartmouth North||Gloria McClusky
2,575
33.87%||Mike Brownlow
2,003
26.35%|||Jerry Pye
3,024
39.78%|| |||Vacant|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dartmouth South||Bruce Hetherington
3,164
35.40%||Allan Billard
2,099
23.48%|||Don Chard
3,676
41.12%|||||John Savage †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Eastern Shore|||Keith Colwell
3,299
38.49%||Greg Brown
2,472
28.84%||Darren Richard
2,801
32.68%|||||Keith Colwell|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Preston||Wayne Adams
1,548
37.45%||Ross D. Isenor
809
19.57%|||Yvonne Atwell
1,777
42.99%|||||Wayne Adams|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Antigonish |||Hyland Fraser
4,649
41.55%||Andrew MacNeil
3,554
31.76%||Maurice Smith
2,986
26.69%|||||Bill Gillis †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Guysborough—Port Hawkesbury|||Ray White
3,438
42.81%||Ron Chisholm
2,717
33.83%||Wendy Panagopoulos
1,876
23.36%|||||Ray White|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Pictou Centre||Roseanne Skoke
2,114
23.68%|||John Hamm
5,037
56.42%||Judy Hughes
1,776
19.89%|||||John Hamm|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Pictou East||Wayne Fraser
2,208
26.52%|||James DeWolfe
3,816
45.83%||David MacKenzie
2,302
27.65%|||||Wayne Fraser|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Pictou West||Rob McDowell
1,633
19.89%||Luke Young
3,273
39.86%|||Charlie Parker
3,306
40.26%|||||Donald P. McInnes†|}
|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton Centre||Steve Drake
2,435
28.61%||Julien Frison
576
6.77%|||Frank Corbett
5,499
64.62%|||||Russell MacNeil †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton East||Clarence Routledge
2,859
30.06%||Henry Boutillier
1,651
17.36%|||Reeves Matheson
5,002
52.59%|||||John MacEachern †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton North|||Russell MacLellan
4,666
50.13%||Murray Johnston
1,853
19.91%||Archie MacKinnon
2,789
29.96%|||||Russell MacLellan|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton Nova|||Paul MacEwan
3,944
53.98%||Walter Hagen
312
4.27%||Lou Surette
3,050
41.75%|||||Paul MacEwan|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton South|||Manning MacDonald
5,118
60.30%||Anna Steele
861
10.14%||Ed Murphy
2,508
29.55%|||||Manning MacDonald|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton—The Lakes||Allan Henderson
3,707
42.29%||Rollie Clarke
485
5.53%|||Helen MacDonald
4,573
52.17%|||||Helen MacDonald|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cape Breton West|||Russell MacKinnon
4,528
44.05%||Alfie MacLeod
2,818
27.42%||Brian Slaney
2,933
28.53%|||||Alfie MacLeod|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Inverness|||Charlie MacDonald
4,396
47.83%||Randy MacDonald
1,951
21.23%||Maria Coady
2,274
24.74%||Ed MacDonald
569
6.19%|||Charles MacArthur †|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Richmond|||Michel Samson
3,230
48.40%||Frank Sutherland
1,392
20.86%||Wilma Conrod
2,051
30.74%|||||Vacant|-|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Victoria|||Kennie MacAskill
2,405
48.08%||Dan Chiasson
1,524
30.47%||Ruth Schneider
887
17.73%||Stemer MacLeod
186
3.72%|||Kennie MacAskill|}