PCs gear up for election with wave of candidate nominations
Governing party faces unhappy voters, internal divisions ahead of campaign
After backing away from a possible early election call last fall, New Brunswick's governing Progressive Conservatives are accelerating their preparations for a 2024 campaign.
The party has chosen two candidates since New Year's Day and has scheduled eight more nominating conventions in January, all of them in redrawn ridings where PC incumbent MLAs are expected to run again.
They include cabinet ministers Ted Flemming, Kris Austin, Bill Hogan, Margaret Johnson, Mary Wilson and Tammy Scott-Wallace, backbencher Mike Dawson and Bill Oliver, Speaker of the legislature.
"I'm really looking forward for the opportunity to serve my same riding and an expanded new area," said Scott-Wallace, who will run in Sussex-Three Rivers.
Cabinet
minister Tammy Scott-Wallace says she will run again, and she'll tell
voters the province is moving in the right direction. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"There was no hesitation that I would want my name to be on that ballot."
As speaker, Oliver normally doesn't take positions publicly on government decisions but he says he continues to work on projects for his Kings Centre riding.
"There's still a couple of things that I want to see to fruition and it seems like some of them are happening now, so I look forward to seeing them all to the end," he said.
Hogan, Wilson and Johnson all confirmed by email that they are running, too. Incumbent MLAs Ryan Cullins and Richard Ames were nominated last weekend.
Premier Blaine Higgs said last fall that he had been "very close" to a snap election call. The scheduled date is Oct. 21 of this year, though Higgs has not ruled out an early election in the spring.
J.P.
Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in
Saint John, says an advantage of more candidate nominations for the PCs
is it consolidates party unity by focusing attention on the campaign. (CBC)
Political scientist J.P. Lewis of the University of New Brunswick in Saint John says a faster pace of nominations gives the Tories flexibility for an early campaign.
"It gets them ready to go whenever."
The PC party is facing a surly electorate, according to polling by the Angus Reid Institute.
Among New Brunswick respondents, only 14 per cent said in a recent survey that the provincial government was doing a good or very good job on health care — the lowest approval of any province.
And only 11 per cent approved of the Higgs government's handling of inflation and the cost of living — tied for lowest with Ontario.
On the other hand, 54 per cent of respondents said Higgs was doing a good job on managing government spending, the highest rating of any provincial government in the country.
The poll was conducted from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1. The size of the New Brunswick sample would yield a margin of error of plus or minus six percentage points in 19 polls out of 20.
The poll posed identical questions nationwide, so it did not ask about the Higgs government's handling of Policy 713 on sexual orientation and gender identity in provincial schools.
But the survey said New Brunswick's government averaged only 24-per-cent approval on its handling of education throughout 2023 — also the lowest rate in Canada.
Scott-Wallace said she'll tell voters that the province is moving in the right direction despite some difficulties.
The Tories nominated their first candidate, Faytene Grasseschi in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martin's, on Dec. 19. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"I know there are challenges, of course. But I also believe we have made a lot of of progress," Scott-Wallace said.
"I am a Progressive Conservative and I'm very proud of that. We're having the right conversations in Fredericton that will serve my riding very well going forward."
The Tories nominated their first candidate, Faytene Grasseschi in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martin's, on Dec. 19, so the 10 meetings held or scheduled this month represent an acceleration of their process.
The Liberals have nominated four election candidates so far. They plan to hold a policy convention in February to develop ideas for their campaign platform.
The PCs are gearing up at the same time a long-time member is questioning the party's direction under Higgs.
PC
member Roger Léger says Higgs lacks a mandate from grassroots members
to transform the party into 'a religious based social movement' and is
calling on party MLAs to push back. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Moncton-area PC member Roger Léger, in a New Year's Day email to MLAs, accused Higgs of orchestrating a social-conservative takeover of the party.
"We have been deceived," he wrote in the email obtained by CBC News, which cited Grasseschi's nomination in December and the premier's reference to a "revolution" by new members of the party signing up.
In 2022, Léger spoke at a party meeting in favour of giving MLA Kris Austin the benefit of the doubt after he quit the People's Alliance to join the PCs. Some other francophone members were alarmed by Austin's position on language issues.
Léger now says Higgs lacks a mandate from grassroots members to transform the party into "a religious based social movement" and is calling on party MLAs to push back.
"Where he is taking us is not who we are. Like me, many of you have been members for decades," wrote Léger.
"We can no longer remain silent. Silence is no longer golden; it is harmful."
Léger turned down an interview request about his email.
Lewis said another advantage of more candidate nominations for the PCs is it consolidates party unity by focusing attention on the campaign.
"One way to get a hold of that is to get the nomination process going," he said. "You have Higgs's team locked in."
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192 Comments
danny rugg
The 1987 win by Frank McKenna comes to mind. New Brunswick opened the
windows and cleared out a lot of stale air that day,and it served the
province well.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1795657629
Jos Allaire
Reply to danny rugg
Frank McKenna, they no longer make them like him. What a brilliant man❗
Jos Allaire
Reply to Jos Allaire
No politician today, no matter the colour, could hold a 🕯️ to McKenna❗
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jos Allaire
McKenna started off well, but the power went to his head and he fell badly.
Jos Allaire
Reply to Ronald Miller
McKenna came and left as a winner. He gave ten years of his life for the people of New Brunswick while he could have stayed in the private sector making a fortune. He proved it before and after he was Premier.
Allan Marven
Reply to danny rugg
It even served the province better when he saw the writing on the wall, QUIT, and watched his empire get roundly defeated. We are still dealing with his "you are lucky to have a call center job" lgacy
Shawn Tabor
Reply to Jos Allaire
I was 19-20, living in Toronto. He was good, in that time. Years later, the repercussions of his team showed up. Sad but a true story. He was another boy from Apohaqui. A great lesson for me, i had only
7-8 years of following the political process and who was benefiting. I might add, Its BUSINESS and you have to learn to separate BUSINESS from Personal is what i was told. Long story, but you are somewhat still paying for it. Take care and stay safe till this storm passes.
New Brunswick elections: Frank McKenna and Liberals sweep 1987 election
- 36 years ago
- Archives
- Duration 6:10
Frank McKenna's Liberals win every single seat in the New Brunswick legislature.
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