When reached at her Ottawa office, McDonough is pleased to be remembered while in the capital, in the Coast readers’ Best of Halifax, but seems to be having an exasperating week following the Throne Speech, which she says “exuded a message of fear and loathing. It’s a government that has become as cynical as the one that preceded it. You do see the cynicism that settles into the electorate.” Despite this, what makes her so continually appealing to people is that she sees herself as an optimist where the governmental “problems are just things to be solved.” And on the positive side, McDonough is excited by the inroads the NDP is making in Quebec, with Thomas Mulcair becoming a new federal MP in the Montreal riding of Outremont.
First runner up: Peter Stoffer, Sackville-Eastern Shore
Second runner up: Mike Savage, Dartmouth-Cole Harbour
