NEW GLASGOW, N.S. - Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Nova Scotia's embattled representative in the cabinet, has kept a low profile since the province's Conservative premier and one of its Tory MPs started denouncing the federal budget as an abject betrayal.
But in his riding of Central Nova, local residents had plenty to say Tuesday about their MP and his chances for re-election.
"I voted for Peter MacKay, but I would have a hard time voting for him anymore,'' said Linda MacDonald of Westville as she sat in a local coffee shop.
"I have watched him on many issues turn about face.... That's a real issue with me right now.''
Her friend, George MacDonald, said he was impressed by the stand taken by maverick MP Bill Casey, who was thrown out of the Conservative caucus last week for voting against a budget implementation bill.
Casey has said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government used the budget to break a promise to honour an updated offshore resource deal that the province signed with Ottawa in 2005.
On Sunday, Premier Rodney MacDonald turned on his federal cousins and broke off talks aimed at reaching some sort of compromise arrangement.
With the normally soft-spoken premier and Casey calling on all MPs to defeat the budget in a final vote, MacKay was left in the awkward position of having to chose between his province and his party.
The budget easily passed third reading Tuesday with the support of the Bloc Quebecois and no further dissent from within the Tory ranks.
Back in New Glasgow, retiree George MacDonald expressed some sympathy for MacKay's dilemma.
"Peter is between a rock and a hard place.... As a cabinet minister, he has to pretty well vote with the government,'' he said, noting that any cabinet minister who votes against government legislation must resign his post.
MacDonald also said he expects MacKay will survive the short-term fallout from the budget fracas.
"People forget quickly, so I think Peter would be safe in any upcoming election,'' he said.
Still, the news director for New Glasgow radio station CKEC, Carleton Munroe, said MacKay's latest troubles follow a string of bad news in his riding.
Ottawa's decision to cut funding for the Canada Summer Jobs program -- a decision that was largely reversed amid loud protests -- and the recent closure of the TrentonWorks railcar plant in nearby Trenton have hurt MacKay.
The plant closure resulted in the loss of more than 1,400 jobs, including more than 300 permanent positions.
As a result, Munroe said MacKay can no longer take the riding for granted.
"He will have to work at it more than any other election that he's had to up to this point,'' said Munroe.
Dave Fanning, president of the United Steelworkers local, said there will be a political price to pay if Ottawa and the province fail to do something to help the province's struggling manufacturing sector.
"The province has to step to the plate and so does the federal government on Peter MacKay's behalf and do something to curb the job loss,'' Fanning said.
Meanwhile, MacKay has to contend with a new rival in the riding: Green party Leader Elizabeth May.
When she announced in April that she would be running against MacKay, federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion was on hand to confirm that his party would not field a candidate to improve May's chances of winning.
At the time, most pundits said May didn't stand a chance, given that MacKay has held the riding for 10 years and won by more than 3,200 votes over the NDP in the 2006.
Meanwhile, MacKay's caucus college Gerald Keddy was feeling the heat from disgruntled voters in his rural riding on Nova Scotia's South Shore.
In Lunenburg, one of the largest towns in the riding, several residents coming and going from a pharmacy said they were thinking of changing their vote in the next federal election because of the budget dispute.
Gary Feener, 40, said he respected Keddy's efforts to represent his community in the past, but he thinks the MP should have rejected Harper's bid to alter the Atlantic Accord.
"As far as him (Keddy) supporting the budget himself, that means I'll neglect on supporting him,'' he said.
Inge Hatton, 63, said she was upset with Keddy, calling him "irresponsible.''
"He was elected to represent this riding, this province in Ottawa and he's letting this province down,'' she said. "This has mobilized me and a lot of other people to make sure he's not re-elected.''
Barbara Eisenhauer said she's been a long-time supporter of Keddy, and the budget vote won't change that.
"I feel this puts him in an awkward position,'' she said. "His past record speaks for itself in this community.''
Laurence Mawhinney, mayor of Lunenburg for the past 27 years, said he senses public opposition to how the federal Conservatives handled the debate.
However, he said it's premature to predict what will happen to Keddy, who voted in favour of the budget.
"Keddy has had considerable success at the polls in the south shore riding and when other issues came up in the past he was usually able to weather those particular challenges,'' he said.
