In the salty air of Central Nova, where fishing boats bob and the forests stretch wide, voters went to the polls on April 28, 2025, to pick their piece of Canada’s 45th Parliament. The riding, a sprawling chunk of Nova Scotia, has been a Liberal stronghold since 2015, but this time, it was no cakewalk. With 227 of 229 polls counted by early morning on April 29, incumbent Sean Fraser, a Liberal who’s worn out his shoe leather here for a decade, held on to his seat. But it was a scrap, the kind that leaves you wiping sweat off your brow.
Fraser, a former housing and immigration minister, pulled in 25,348 votes, nabbing 51.75% of the total. His closest rival, Conservative Brycen Jenkins, wasn’t far behind, scooping up 21,038 votes for a solid 42.95%. Jenkins, a fresh face with a knack for rallying the right, gave Fraser a run that had locals glued to their screens. The NDP’s Jesiah MacDonald trailed in third, managing just 1,603 votes, or 3.27%, a sign the orange wave didn’t crest here. Elections Canada reported 16,883 ballots cast at advance polls, a hint of how eager folks were to have their say.
This wasn’t just any election. The House of Commons grew to 343 seats, up five from 338, thanks to population shifts caught in the 2021 census. Central Nova, redrawn but still a mix of small towns and coastal hamlets, stayed a battleground. Fraser, who briefly toyed with stepping away before jumping back in, faced a Conservative push that smelled blood. The Liberals, under new leader Mark Carney, were fighting to keep their grip on power after a decade in office. By late April 28, projections pointed to a Liberal government, though whether it’s a majority or minority was still up in the air.
The riding’s pulse was steady but tense. Polls closed at 8:30 p.m. local time, and results trickled in, first from Atlantic Canada, where Nova Scotia sits. Fraser’s lead wasn’t always certain—early counts had Jenkins nipping at his heels, a fact that had campaign volunteers chewing their nails. By 2:21 a.m. on April 29, with nearly all votes tallied, Fraser’s edge was clear. The Liberals’ red stayed painted across Central Nova, but the blue tide wasn’t far off.
No surprises in the mechanics: Canada’s first-past-the-post system, as always, crowned the candidate with the most votes. Elections Canada, the independent outfit running the show, kept things tight, despite some website hiccups that frustrated voters trying to check results online. The process was manual, each ballot counted by hand at polling stations before numbers hit the official tally.
Central Nova’s voters, from Pictou to Antigonish, spoke. Fraser’s still their guy, but Jenkins’ strong showing means the Conservatives aren’t fading into the fog. The final count: Fraser with 25,348 votes, Jenkins with 21,038, MacDonald with 1,603. Other candidates barely registered, splitting the scraps. That’s the raw math from a night that kept Central Nova on edge.