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3 Politics
All three provinces are currently governed by the Progressive Conservatives. However, Maritime Conservatism since the Second World War has been very much part of the Red Tory tradition, a key influence being former Nova Scotia Premier and federal PC leader Robert Stanfield.
In recent years the social-democratic New Democratic Party has made significant inroads both federally and provincially in the region. The NDP has elected MP's from New Brunswick, but most of the focus of the party at the federal and provincial levels is currently in the Halifax area of Nova Scotia. Industrial Cape Breton has historically been a region of labour activism, electing CCF (and later NDP) MP's, and even counted many early members of the Communist Party of Canada in the pre- Second World War era. In the 2004 Federal Election, The NDP captured 28.45% of the vote in Nova Scotia, more than any other province.
The Maritimes is generally very socially conservative, but unlike the province of Alberta, the Maritimes also have fiscally socialist tendencies. It is because of the lack of support for fiscal conservatism that federal parties such as the Canadian Alliance never had much success in the region, and the level of support for the new Conservative Party of Canada in the region is uncertain. The 2004 Federal Election saw the Conservatives have one of the worst showings in the region, going back to confederation, with the possible exception of the 1993 Election
One area within the region where both fiscal and social conservatism do coincide and where the federal Reform Party and Canadian Alliance have met success is in the central-western part of New Brunswick in the St. John River valley north of Saint John and south of Grand Falls. Contributing demographics include a predominantly Anglophone population residing in a largely rural agrarian setting. One influence might be proximity to the International Boundary and the state of Maine. The valley is also settled by descendents of United Empire Loyalists, some of whom established fundamentalist Christian congregations in the area which continue to influence certain segments of society. There are also a large number of active and retired military personnel located in the Fredericton and Oromocto area as a result of the large military base at CFB Gagetown . Another area in the region with smatterings of coinciding fiscal and social conservatism is the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia.
The Liberal Party of Canada has done well in the area in the past due to its interventionist policies. The Acadian Peninsula region of New Brunswick, long dependent upon seasonal employment in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence fishery, tends to vote for the Liberals or NDP for this reason. In the 1997 federal election, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberals endured a bitter defeat to the PC's and NDP in many ridings as a result of unpopular cuts to unemployment benefits for seasonal workers, as well as closures of several Canadian Armed Forces bases, the refusal to honour a promise to rescind the Goods and Services Tax, cutbacks to provincial equalization payments, health care, post-secondary education and regional transportation infrastructure such as airports, fishing harbours , seaports , and railways. Liberals only managed to hold onto seats in Prince Edward Island, and certain parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, while being shut out of Nova Scotia entirely for the second in history. (The only other time being Diefenbaker sweep)
