Inverness

Candidates

Current MLA: Rodney MacDonald (PC), Premier

District profile: This is the biggest district by land size in Cape Breton. It's largely rural and wooded, and includes all of Inverness County and the Whycocomagh Reserve. It was created in 1993 from most of the Inverness North and Inverness South districts.

Inverness stretches from Port Hawkesbury at the Canso Causeway in the south, all the way up the western side of the island to Meat Cove at the northern tip. It's home to the Inverness Miners Museum and the Margaree Salmon Museum.

The main population centres are Port Hood and Port Hawkesbury (which used to be part of the Guysborough district), as well as the village of Inverness.

The service sector is the biggest employer, while fishing, forestry and tourism are the mainstays of the economy.

District map: Inverness (PDF)

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2006 results

Voter turnout: 70.69 per cent in 2006

Political history

PC Billy Joe MacLean, the current mayor of Port Hawkesbury, held Inverness South during much of the 1980s, while Liberal John Archie MacKenzie was a mainstay in the northern portion.

Rodney MacDonald, the current MLA and the province's premier, has had a lock on the district for the past decade. He's a professional fiddler and former high-school teacher.