- MacPolitics: Q & A With South Shore-St. Margaret’s Liberal Contender, Jessica Fancy-Landry
By Andrew Macdonald
The Liberal candidate on South Shore-St. Margaret’s is an educator, Jessica Fancy-Landry.
She was recruited by the party into the nomination, so won by acclamation.
As I also asked the following questions of Conservative candidate, Rick Perkins, reported elsewhere in this edition of The Macdonald Notebook, I also asked Fancy-Landry if she supports 103 HWY twinning all the way to Bridgewater.
With the fact the official NDP candidate withdrew from the race, I also asked Perkins and Fancy-Landry how each will campaign to get the 2021 NDP vote in the April 28th, 2025 election.
On my question to Fancy-Landry on whether she will advocate for twinning of the highway to Bridgewater, she replied in a phone interview with The Notebook.
While road building is a provincial responsibility, NS federal politicians like Liberals Scott Brison & Bernadette Jordan scored $70M in co-share funding with the NS gov to twin to Hubbards. And, Conservative Peter MacKay found multi-millions of dollars for the Ingramport interchange.
Question: Notebook: If you win as Liberal MP and Mark Carney forms the government, will you advocate for twinning all the way to Bridgewater?
Jessica Fancy-Landry: “Yeah, thank you for that question, totally, 100 per cent (for the twinning). I am in agreement because As we see that highway develop, it is helping. The more people we can drive, no pun intended, to our riding, look at the benefits of what has happened in the Bridgewater area, in terms of Exit 12A, and the infrastructure there and what that is doing for the economy in this area and spreading to other areas.”
She adds, “By twinning that highway, look at the tourism in this area, getting people on those roads.”
“And, we all know too there is a safety piece to this as well in having a twinned highway,” she adds.
“It is a three-pronged thing (twinning). Helping with the economy, getting people exploring other places throughout our riding here in South Shore- St. Margaret’s, driving traffic from HRM to all of our wonderful places down here through tourism, and then also through safety. Those three things are definitely a lens we need to look at in the development of twinning the highway,” says Fancy-Landry.
“And, you know what, it is time, it is 2025, and it is time to look at different cost-share measures. I would be a proponent to twin (to Bridgewater),” Fancy-Landry tells The Macdonald Notebook.
As I also asked Rick Perkins, I asked Jessica Fancy-Landry how she might go after NDP support from those voters in 2021, given the official NDP candidate has withdrawn from the race in the South Shore riding.
The NDP did put forward at the last minute an “independent” candidate who will not have official NDP party status on the April 28th, 2025 ballot.
Notebook Question: What are you doing in your campaign to get that 2021 NDP vote in the April 28th, 2025, election, and with various national polls showing the NDP vote collapsing?
Jessica Fancy-Landry: “For me, I would not say it is something that I am campaigning on. I want to first recognize my utmost respect for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP party. I do know that in different pockets and areas within the riding of South Shore – St. Margaret’s, have a very loyal NDP following.”
“But that being said, in terms of this being such an important election and seeing, let’s call it, a Liberal versus Conservative parties, I think the NDP are recognizing that we have worked with the Liberal government before with the agreements we had, and they know the Liberal party is probably better suited to go to bat for us – especially down South with President Trump,” adds Fancy-Landry.
“I do see a lot of NDP people as we are on the phones and at the doors saying, ‘I have always voted NDP or I voted NDP in the past, but, I am now being strategic with my vote’”. That term, strategic voting, has come up a lot in this election.
She adds, “For me, I am looking at Prime Minister Carney’s own philosophy and what he is running in that value system is that we need to be fiscally responsible, but we have to make sure we keep people and social programs at the centre – and I think that is also resonating with a lot of the NDP, as well, in terms of keeping people and social programs at the centre, while trying to jump start the economy and being fiscally responsible.”
“I feel like Prime Minister Carney’s message is resonating with the NDP vote, and I will definitely welcome that coalition here in this riding of South Shore – St. Margarets. But I want people to know I have the utmost respect for that party.”
An educator, Jessica Fancy-Landry is the Liberal contender in the riding of South Shore-St. Margaret’s.
