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EAST HANTS:<\/strong> The former editor and journalist of East Hants\u2019 community newspaper The Weekly Press is setting her sights on politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an announcement on Dec. 10, the Nova Scotia NDP announced that Abby Cameron, who grew up in the Shubenacadie area, will be their candidate in Hants East for the next provincial election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameron spoke to The Laker News about her motivation to go from newshound to being the one answering questions to reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJournalism and politics are said to be \u2018first cousins\u2019 and I believe that is true,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving 15 years experience in community journalism, I\u2019ve been exposed to politics on all level, not only from the standpoint of the government decisions, but the community fall out or reaction to said projects and programs, cuts and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”78″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”31″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n The timing was right for her to get into politics, said Cameron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI foresaw politics later in life for me but 2020 had different plans so this is an adaptation to those changes,\u201d said Cameron. \u201cI know that I work hard, I know that I care about the communities in Hants East, and I know I have the potential and the experience to be a great MLA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said she\u2019s always had an interest in politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the Weekly Press and the Laker first shut down in January 2020, I had the time to do some serious soul searching and plan my next moves,\u201d said Cameron. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t long before I felt disconnected from the communities of Hants East and realized I wanted to do something to re-engage myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I made the decision to apply for school to retrain, there was always these thoughts in the back of my head about how many other people were in similar situations, how many other people are struggling? Who needed help navigating things?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”2″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”34″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameron, who spent seven years as coach of the Hants East Rural High Tigers girls fast pitch team, said that\u2019s when she began having conversation with her partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI said maybe it\u2019s my time to consider a political run,\u201d she recalled. \u201cAlmost as if he knew, I got a phone call in late summer from NDP leader Gary Burrill asking if I had ever considered running. The ball got rolling from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said the next few months included a lot of conversations and thinking, thinking and more thinking before making her ultimate decision to seek the nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause of my experience in journalism, I also got to see the behind the scenes of politics that people don\u2019t often think about,\u201d said Cameron. \u201cI\u2019m excited to be able to help the residents of Hants East, to help lead through what is certainly guaranteed to be tough times as we rebound and rebuild from the effects of COVID-19. I want to be able to invoke real change, to help everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”6″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”96″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameron, who has family all over Hants East, said there were a few things that attracted her to the NDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGary is a wonderful person, a great leader, and is one of the most caring people I have ever met,\u201d she said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t for an instant mistake his kindness for weakness however. I feel in a post-pandemic world, he is someone who I have real faith in rebuilding a Nova Scotia for the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you can sugar coat how difficult the road to recovery will be for not only Hants East, but the entire province. But, as someone who does try to think positively, the silver lining in all of this is we are going to be in a position where we are almost going to have to start over. I for one see it for the opportunity it is, to rebuild a future that works for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She has covered Hants East for 13 of her 15 years as a community journalist, and that includes organizing several candidate debates at the provincial and federal level for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameron feels she knows what the issues are facing Hants East residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are absolutely issues that will always be top of mind, education, health care, both in the case of primary doctors and long-term health care, help for our small businesses, affordable housing, agriculture, forestry and more,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting out more in the communities to really hear what is on the minds of residents right now. I look forward to having safe conversations to learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”9″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”92″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said Burrill told her he was more of a team captain than a leader. Cameron said a more collaborative approach to the issues benefits all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t push his own agenda, he really depends on his team to come together in unison on the issues,\u201d she said. \u201cI like and respect that type of politics and it\u2019s the type of politics I plan to engage in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn today\u2019s arena, the mudslinging and criticism has sometimes gotten out of hand. Sure, political beliefs do not always align, but I will work with representatives of all colours and stripes to do what\u2019s best for the constituents in Hants East as well as the province.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameron said she feels a huge responsibility to represent strong women well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Municipality of East Hants recently elected their first female Warden in Eleanor Roulston. Margaret Miller has been a strong female representative over the past two terms of office,\u201d she said when asked about being a woman running in politics. \u201cHRM council has achieved gender parity for the first time ever, so I think women have done an excellent job at overcoming the frankly unfounded and outdated stigma attached to women in office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”8″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n She wants to be part of the next generation of female leadership to push forward and remove the stigma of women in politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Cameron said she\u2019s not running on being a woman, but on her own history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m running on my community involvement, my knowledge of the local landscape, and because I know I would be a good representative,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think my gender-or anyone\u2019s gender-defines how good of a job we would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cameron, who admits to being soft-spoken, said people might not expect it but she can be like a dog with a bone at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can confidently say I will do everything in my power for the residents of Hants East,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”7″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”95″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EAST HANTS: The former editor and journalist of East Hants\u2019 community newspaper The Weekly Press is setting her sights on politics. In an announcement on Dec. 10, the Nova Scotia NDP announced that Abby Cameron, who grew up in the Shubenacadie area, will be their candidate in Hants East for the next provincial election. Cameron […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[965,12],"tags":[1672,196,773,1251,1673,1378,264],"class_list":["post-18615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-hants","category-featured","tag-abby-cameron","tag-east-hants","tag-election","tag-gary-burrill","tag-hants-east","tag-n-s-ndp","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}