The electoral district was created in 1993 and was conceived to provide representation to the area's rural Black community; roughly two-thirds of the population during the district's existence was African Nova Scotian.[citation needed] It was the first riding in all of Nova Scotia to feature an entirely African Nova Scotian slate of candidates in the 2021 provincial election.[1] The electoral district was abolished following the 2012 electoral boundary review when the provincial government wanted all of the province's ridings to have equal representation.[2] It was largely replaced by the new electoral district of Preston-Dartmouth. The riding was re-created following the 2019 boundary review, mostly out of Preston-Dartmouth, but also out of parts of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank, Cole Harbour-Portland Valley, Eastern Shore and a small part of Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley. The riding was reinstated after a court challenge that also re-instated the province's three protected Acadians ridings.[3]
Geography
Preston covers 164 km2 (63 sq mi) of land area.[4]
^Armstrong, Lyndsay. "Meet peninsula Halifax's new MLAs Ali Duale, Suzy Hansen and Lisa Lachance". The Coast Halifax. Retrieved 15 September 2021. There were three Black contenders in Preston this year—Liberal Simmonds beat the NDP's Colter Simmonds, the founder of We Will Win Youth Association, and PC Archy Beals—which is believed to be the first time any of Nova Scotia's ridings have had an all-Black slate of candidates.
