New Brunswickers voted last month in an early provincial election, resulting in a Liberal majority government under leader Susan Holt. Former Premier and Conservative leader Blaine Higgs lost his seat, with a final tally of 31 of the 49 seats going to the Liberals, who needed only 25 to secure a majority. The remaining seats went to the PCs, who took 16, and the Greens, who took two. Previously the PCs had been governing with a 27 seat majority against 17 Liberals and three Greens in opposition. Voter turnout has remained steady at around 66 per cent. More statistics can be found here.
Higgs was seeking a third term, but his second was full of controversy, including several Cabinet ministers stepping down during their terms and more deciding to not seek re-election. His social conservative agenda seemed to be clearer as time went on, including the introduction of controversial “Policy 713,” which was introduced in 2020 and revised in 2023. The policy is widely seen as anti-trans and discriminatory, with teachers and a civil liberties association challenging the legality of the legislation via union grievances and the courts. The election on October 21st has been considered a referendum on Higgs.
The election in New Brunswick followed a trend in politics on Turtle Island / North America these past several years, which includes negative tactics like attack ads (a closer look at one from the BC Conservatives in August here). The tactics employed by Higgs were aggressive enough that former PC cabinet minister Jeff Carr, who broke ranks alongside five other Tory cabinet ministers in opposition to Policy 713, went so far as to say that Higgs owed Liberal leader Holt an apology for the attacks on her.
Holt, for her part, held her own and distanced herself from the federal Liberal party, with campaign materials using an “L” in in lieu of writing out the word Liberal. Holt announced her cabinet on November 1st, and the government was sworn in on November 2nd. Of particular interest, MLA Dr. John Dornan is Minister of Health, MLA Gilles Le Page is Minister of Environment and Climate Change, MLA Keith Chiasson is Minister of Indigenous Affairs, and MLA John Herron is Minister of Natural Resources.
Despite this distancing during the election, Holt met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday and along with many other things they shared in their post-meeting media conference, Trudeau mentioned pharmacare and that monies will be flowing to New Brunswick to implement the program.
Although on the surface the result of the New Brunswick election is good news, both in terms of trends and for the Council of Canadians’ campaign issues like the future of pharmacare in the province and for a potential permanent moratorium on fracking (the current ban is not written in legislation), things will become clearer once the dust settles. We are hopeful that a commitment to the implementation of pharmacare in the province will be forthcoming, and that Holt will follow through on the party’s election platform promises including shifting towards more renewable forms of energy, updating the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and the re-evaluation of the use of glyphosate for spraying on forests.
From the National Observer here,
“Holt has long criticized Higgs for his stance on climate. In 2023, when Higgs threatened to lift the moratorium on fracking in the province, Holt said he was looking in the “rearview mirror” when it comes to the province’s energy future.“Here we have a government where the premier takes the world stage to pitch yesterday’s energy solution. Aside from it being a poor business strategy, it’s also pretty embarrassing,” she said in 2023, referencing Higgs’ recent trip to Europe, where he pitched fracked gas as a transition fuel.
She said rather than investing in shale gas, which “no one is looking to invest in,” the province should support the development of clean energy in partnerships with First Nations.
”In addition, the New Brunswick Liberal party passed a non-binding resolution at their convention in February 2024 “that a future Liberal government adopt a permanent moratorium on the exploration and exploitation of shale gas in New Brunswick.”
Also in February, the Telegraph Journal reported Holt saying, “I have made it clear that we are not interested in yesterday’s energy sources,” but she also questioned if New Brunswickers see a “meaningful difference between the current moratorium and a permanent ban.”
During the election period, we worked with allies to ensure that fracking was on voters’ radar, including through co-hosting a webinar relating to health concerns. We also organized a phone tree to contact supporters to ensure that they knew the resumption of fracking was on the ballot and to encourage them to get out and vote on the side of the environment and human health. Our get out the vote campaign was encouraging, given that the vast majority of people we spoke with were onside with our concerns about fracking and were planning to vote with this issue in mind.
Here are some media pieces our allies had published during the writ period:
- It’s time: Make the fracking moratorium permanent, Commentary by Jim Emberger, NBASGA, published in the NB Media Coop, September 30th, 2024
- Take a lesson from B.C. on fracking, Commentary by Melissa Lem, CAPE, Melanie Langille, NB Lung, published in the Telegraph Journal, October 17th, 2024
- Les leçons de la situation en Colombie-Britannique : le gaz naturel liquéfié et la fracturation hydraulique ne valent pas les risques pour la santé, French commentary by Melissa Lem, CAPE, Melanie Langille, NB Lung, published in l’Acadie Nouvelle, October 18th, 2024
The Council will be following up with the Ministers for the Environment and Natural Resources regarding the status of fracking legislation. We’ll also continue to track the new premier’s throne speech and the NB legislative assembly, which is scheduled to start meeting November 19th. Be sure to send an action alert to the New Brunswick leader and minister of health calling on them to implement pharmacare immediately, here.
Angela Giles
Angela Giles is the Atlantic regional organizer for the Council of Canadians and an avid surfer.
