Smith-McCrossin was elected to the
Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the
2017 provincial election. Smith-McCrossin launched a bid for the leadership of the PC Party of Nova Scotia on February 6, 2018. Her leadership campaign was co-chaired by Halifax-businessman
Rob Batherson and former Member of Parliament
Scott Armstrong. She lost to
Tim Houston. Smith-McCrossin was re-elected as an Independent in the
2021 provincial election. Smith-McCrossin’s victory in
Cumberland North marked the first occasion since
1988 that an
independent candidate won election to the Nova Scotia legislature. She was re-elected in
2024, marking the first time an independent was re-elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in history.
Controversies In February 2020, during the
2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests, McCrossin tweeted: “The rail blockades must be removed today. Businesses are being affected in Cumberland North and layoffs are coming soon for many if they are not removed immediately,” said the MLA at the time, calling those blockades “illegal”. On June 22, 2021, Smith-McCrossin was accused of inciting a blockade of the
Trans-Canada Highway in protest to the ongoing closures of the border. This led to her being ejected from the Progressive Conservative caucus and barred from running for the party in the upcoming election. Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative leader
Tim Houston said "As colleagues for the past four years, I owed her an opportunity to explain her actions, and the efforts she took to conceal those actions from her caucus colleagues. Ms. Smith-McCrossin refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and — when explicitly asked by her caucus — refused to apologize to Nova Scotians as she didn't take part in the border blockade." In April 2023, Smith-McCrossin asserted that a woman who once worked in her constituency office was persuaded into signing a non-disclosure agreement with the Progressive Conservative caucus when she worked there in 2018. MLA and Minister
Karla MacFarlane tabled a motion to expel Smith-McCrossin from the
Nova Scotia House of Assembly, a legislative concept never before heard of in Westminster-style Parliaments of Commonwealth countries, the government later relenting. Smith-McCrossin is pursuing legal action. This matter is currently before the courts and is set to be heard in November 2024. Following the Resignation of Karla McFarlane the Notice of Motion became moot and the case was dropped. ==Electoral record==