A Supermajority – The Progressive Conservatives Increase Their Vote and Seat Count
November 26, 2024

Introduction
The results are in! The Progressive Conservatives (PC) won re-election with 43 seats (up from 34 at dissolution) and managed to capture a massive 52.8% of the popular vote. The New Democratic Party (NDP) won nine seats becoming the Official Opposition with 22.2% of the vote, and the Liberals only won two seats but managed to gain 23% of the vote.

Interestingly, Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin was re-elected in the riding of Cumberland North, becoming the first independent politician to win back-to-back elections. The Liberal leader Zach Churchill lost his seat while his party lost 12 seats. The NDP increased their seat count by three. The Green Party did not win any seats. Turnout for this election was at a historic low, with only 44.5% of eligible voters participating.

Analysis
For this election, Premier Tim Houston’s gamble of calling an early election clearly paid off (he did not have to go to the polls until July 15, 2025). With this election win, the PC’s gained a “supermajority” – winning 2/3 of the seats (43 out of 55). This term is not typically part of the Canadian political lexicon (it is usually used within the United States (U.S.) political system). It was not even part of the discourse in 1987 when Frank McKenna and the New Brunswick Liberals won every single seat in the province.

So, what does a supermajority mean? Within the context of Nova Scotia, the PC’s can now set the entire agenda as to how the Legislative Assembly will function during this new term. For instance, the PCs could ensure there is no Question Period (or severely limit debate times) and/or install only their members on Assembly committees. Typically, the governing party needs the cooperation of all elected parties to create the form and function as to how all members will work in the Assembly. The supermajority does away with this cooperation. However, it is unlikely that Premier Houston would install such draconian measures.

It will be interesting to see if the Premier uses aspects of the supermajority when implementing his agenda. It also means the government will have a higher accountability standard. With this substantial mandate, the PCs will have to significantly deliver on their campaign promises.

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Ivan Ross Vrána
Managing Partner