Paul MacEwan (8 April 1943 – 2 May 2017) was a politician from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.

He ran in Cape Breton Nova, a heavily blue collar riding (electoral district) that was home to the Sydney Steel plant and many coal miners.

[3] MacEwan was closely associated with the work of Jeremy Akerman, who served as the leader of the Nova Scotia NDP from 1968 to 1980.

Akerman won the party leadership by four votes in 1968, at a convention where MacEwan persuaded eight uncommitted youth delegates to support Alkerman.

[7] His public accusations included the implication that Akerman resigned due to "Trotskyist elements" from the mostly mainland-based provincial council.

[7] To make this situation worse for an incoming leader, the NDP's four MLAs, all from Cape Breton constituencies, voted 3–1 to keep him in the caucus.

[8] Len J. Arsenault – the MLA for Cape Breton North – and a leadership candidate, being the only negative vote.

[8][9] In late September, Akerman was appointed to a top Nova Scotia civil service job that required him to both resign from the Legislature and terminate his membership in the NDP.

[10] James 'Buddy' MacEachern, a leadership candidate, and MLA for Cape Breton Centre, was made the interim leader on 2 October.

The party ran three candidates on the Nova Scotian mainland in addition to the eleven seats on Cape Breton Island.

After the Liberals lost power in 1999, he continued to serve as their Deputy House Leader and Whip, and was critic for the Department of Labour and the Workers Compensation Board.

He holds the record as the Nova Scotia MLA with the longest uninterupted service in the House of Assembly.