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Politics of New Brunswick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Polity type | Province within afederalparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy |
| Constitution | Constitution of Canada |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Legislature |
| Type | Unicameral |
| Meeting place | New Brunswick Legislative Building,Fredericton |
| Presiding officer | Speaker of the Legislative Assembly |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state | |
| Currently | KingCharles III represented by Louise Imbeault, Lieutenant Governor |
| Head of government | |
| Currently | Premier Susan Holt |
| Appointer | Lieutenant Governor |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Executive Council |
| Leader | Premier (as President of the Executive Council) |
| Appointer | Lieutenant Governor |
| Headquarters | Fredericton |
| Judicial branch | |
| Court of Appeal | |
| Chief judge | Marc Richard |
| Seat | Fredericton |
New Brunswick has had, since the Legislative Council was abolished by an act passed on 16 April 1891,[1] aunicameral legislature called theNew Brunswick Legislature, consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and theLegislative Assembly with 49 seats. The legislature functions according to theWestminster system of government.[2] Elections are now held at least every five years but may be called at any time by thelieutenant governor (the vice-regal representative) on consultation with thepremier.
There are two dominant political parties inNew Brunswick, theLiberal Party and theProgressive Conservative Party.[2] From time to time, other parties such as theNew Democratic Party, theConfederation of Regions Party, and more recently, theGreen Party of New Brunswick andPeople's Alliance of New Brunswick have held seats in the Legislative Assembly.
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The two major political parties in New Brunswick are theNew Brunswick Liberal Association and theProgressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.[2]
TheUnited Farmers earned 6 seats during the 1920 election.[2] TheConfederation of Regions Party is the only minor party to have been official opposition at thelegislative assembly.[2] It won 8 seats in the 1991 elections and 3 seats in 1995.[2]
The registered political parties during the 2024 elections are:[3]
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(July 2021) |
During the 1861 provincial elections, New Brunswick was the first in North America to use the secret ballot.[2]
In 1785, women were banned from voting by theLegislative Council of New Brunswick.[5] Women got the right to vote in provincial elections in 1919 and were allowed to be candidates in 1934.[5]Brenda Robertson was the first woman elected to the legislative assembly during the 1967 provincial election.[2]
The Elections Act of 1952 prevented First Nations members to vote in provincial elections. This measure was revoked 11 years later.[6]
Provincial elections occur every four years on the third Monday in October.[7] New Brunswick first passed legislation to set a fixed election date in 2007.[2]
From 1867 to 1878, party labels were not in use for general elections. While party identification began to be employed in the 1882 general election, parties did not become formally organized until the 1917 election, and were not legally recognized until 1935.
The financial condition of the county municipalities of the province was deemed excellent in 1915. The ordinary revenue for the province in 1915 amounted to $1,634,079 and the ordinary expenditure to $1,626,634. Findings were that ten counties out of fifteen (not including the city and county ofSaint John) had an assessable valuation of real and personal property of over thirty million dollars, with insignificant liabilities. The city of Saint John was in 1915 the commercial capital of the province, with a population of about 58,000, out of more than 350,000, in other words more than 16% of the total. Its valuation for assessment purposes in 1915 was $36,187,000 and its liabilities were less than $5,000,000. The city of Fredericton, the capital of the province, with a population in 1915 of 8,000, had a valuation of real and personal property for assessment of $5,000,000 with an outstanding indebtedness of $486,000.[1]
| Government | Liberal | Con | Liberal | Con | |||||||||
| Party | 1886 | 1890 | 1892 | 1895 | 1899 | 1903 | 1908 | 1912 | 1917 | 1920 | 1925 | 1930 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 33 | 26 | 25 | 34 | 40 | 33 | 13 | 2 | 27 | 24 | 11 | 17 | |
| Conservative | 8 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 31 | 44 | 21 | 13 | 37 | 31 | |
| United Farmers | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Farmer-Labour | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Independent | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Total | 41 | 41 | 41 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | |
Between 1935 and 1974, some ridings weremulti member seats – i.e., more than oneMember of the Legislative Assembly was elected from certain ridings. Since 1974, eachriding (electoral district) has elected onlyone member to theLegislative Assembly of New Brunswick.
| Government | Liberal | PC | Liberal | PC | ||||||||||
| Party | 1935 | 1939 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1963 | 1967 | 1970 | 1974 | 1978 | 1982 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 43 | 29 | 36 | 47 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 26 | 25 | 28 | 18 | |
| Conservative | 5 | 19 | 12 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Progressive Conservative | 36 | 37 | 21 | 20 | 26 | 32 | 33 | 30 | 39 | |||||
| New Democratic | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Total | 48 | 48 | 48 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 58 | |
During the 1987 election,Frank McKenna's liberal party won all 58 seats.[2]
Since 2000, the province has had six leaders,Bernard Lord,Shawn Graham,David Alward,Brian Gallant,Blaine Higgs andSusan Holt. The Canadian Broadcasting corporation characterized the policy differences between the parties as small.[8]
On September 19, 2006, the Liberals won a majority with 29 out of 55 seats, making 38-year-oldShawn Graham the new Premier of New Brunswick on a platform called theCharter for Change, which pledged to focus on "the three Es": energy, education and the economy.[9]
In the2010 general election, the Progressive Conservatives won 42 out of 55 seats, makingDavid Alward the 32nd Premier of New Brunswick.[10] The controversy this time was overthe planned sale of NB Power to Hydro-Québec.[11]
On 24 September 2014 Brian Gallant was electedwith 27 seats out of 49.[12] An important election issue washydraulic fracturing, which was supported by the government, while the Liberal opposition promised to implement a moratorium on the practice.[13][14] AsGreen Party of New Brunswick elected with their first seat for their leaderDavid Coon in newly createdFredericton South district.
On24 September 2018, the Progressive Conservatives won 22 out of 49 seats, while the Liberal party received the plurality of votes cast. The Liberals won 21 seats. The Green Party of New Brunswick and thePeople's Alliance of New Brunswick each won 3 seats.
On14 September 2020, the Progressive Conservatives won 27 out of 49 seats, thus getting a small PC majority, while the Liberal party decreasing both voters and losing 4 seats. The Green Party of New Brunswick retains its 3 seats, but gaining more voters. While, the People's Alliance of New Brunswick has loss more voters than the Liberals, and lose one seat.
On21 September 2024, the Liberals gained a decisive majority of 31, wilth the Progressive Conservatives and Greens winning 16 and 2 respectively.
| Government | Liberal | PC | Liberal | PC | Liberal | PC | Liberal | ||||||
| Party | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2020 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Conservative | 3 | 6 | 44 | 28 | 26 | 42 | 21 | 22 | 27 | 16 | |||
| Liberal | 58 | 46 | 48 | 10 | 26 | 29 | 13 | 27 | 21 | 17 | 31 | ||
| Green Party | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| People's Alliance | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||
| New Democratic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Confederation of Regions | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 58 | 58 | 55 | 55 | 55 | 55 | 55 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 | ||
The dynamics of New Brunswick politics differ from those of other provinces in Canada. The lack of a dominant urban centre in the province means that the government has to be responsive to issues affecting all areas of the province.[15] In addition, the presence of a large francophone minority plays a large role in political decision making in the province.[16]
From 1960 until the appointment ofBlaine Higgs in 2018,[17] the province has generally elected young bilingual leaders.[18] As bilingualism is an unofficial pre-requisite for major party leaders in Canadian federal government, this combination of attributes sometimes contributes to speculation the premiers of New Brunswick to become federal leaders.[19] Former PremierBernard Lord (Progressive Conservative) has been touted as a potential leader of theConservative Party of Canada.Frank McKenna (premier, 1987–1997), had been considered to be a front-runner to succeed Prime MinisterPaul Martin.
| British Crown colony (1854–67) | |
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| Canadian Province (1867–present) | |
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