Candidates’ signs have been out in full force since the byelection was called early last month.

TRURO – Candidates have put their best foot forward and now their fate lies in the hands of the electorate.
Cumberland Colchester Musquodoboit Valley residents will find out tonight who will be their new member of Parliament.
While some people remain undecided on who to vote for, others appear to have made up their mind.
“I think so, but I’m not saying,” Truro’s Mike Stokoe said Sunday afternoon.
What started as a marathon is down to a sprint to the finish for the six candidates, who want to be the first MP in 12 years not named Casey to represent Cumberland and Colchester counties in Ottawa.
The writ for this, and three other byelections across the country, was dropped on Sunday, Oct. 4. While tonight’s result will not impact the balance of power in Ottawa, each party has been busy bringing in heavyweights to try to help their candidate garner votes.
During the five-week campaign not one single issue has dominated the cordial campaign.
Opposition parties pounded the governing Conservatives for how Prime Minister Stephen Harper handled former MP Bill Casey and the Atlantic Accord.
Some say the riding is wide open and tonight’s results are anybody’s guess.
“It’s quite a bit different not to have Bill Casey running,” Stokoe said, but “the Conservatives have a pretty strong base.”
Some pundits will be watching to see what the staunch Conservatives, who followed Casey’s bid for re-election in October 2008 as an Independent, will do today.
With Casey out of the picture, will they return to their Conservative roots or will they be so turned off by the past to park their vote elsewhere?
Louise Berthiaume has lived in the Truro area for 27 years after moving here from Quebec.
“What created our country was freedom and social action,” Berthiaume said, noting she will be supporting the New Democrat candidate. “I think the NDP has a good social program... The NDP seem to be more connected to the grassroots and we need more of that right now.”
Berthiaume hopes the NDP
win, but knows it will be a tough battle with the Conservatives and the Liberals.
She said the Liberals have a very intelligent federal leader but he needs to be more “charismatic” with what she described as the “Obama touch.”
Many in the riding will be watching to see if the New Democrats’ breakthrough provincially will have any impact on the federal riding.
Some people in downtown Truro yesterday said they had traditionally voted Liberal or Conservative but have decided to vote for change and will be supporting the NDP this time.

jmalloy@trurodaily.com