Politics of New Brunswick
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Politics of New Brunswick | |
---|---|
Polity type | Province within a federal parliamentary constitutional 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 | King Charles III represented by Brenda Murphy, Lieutenant Governor |
Head of Government | |
Currently | Premier Blaine Higgs |
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] a
There are two dominant political parties in
Institutions
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Political parties
The two major political parties in New Brunswick are the New Brunswick Liberal Association and the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.[2]
The
The registered political parties during the 2020 elections were: [3]
- New Brunswick Liberal Association
- Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick
- New Brunswick New Democratic Party
- Green Party of New Brunswick
- People's Alliance of New Brunswick
- KISS NB
Electoral system
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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 the Legislative Council of New Brunswick.[4] Women got the right to vote in provincial elections in 1919 and were allowed to be candidates in 1934.[4] 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 This measure was revoked 11 years later.[5]
Provincial elections occur every four years on the third Monday in October.[6] New Brunswick first passed legislation to set a fixed election date in 2007.[7]
Elections
1867-1930
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 of Saint 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 |
1935-1982
Between 1935 and 1974, some ridings were
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 |
1987-present
During the 1987 election, Frank McKenna's liberal party won all 58 seats.[2]
Since 2000, the province has had four leaders, Bernard Lord, who was elected twice, Shawn Graham, David Alward and Brian Gallant. Lord was defeated based in part on the perceived mismanagement of the NB Power thermal generating stations.[citation needed]
On September 19, 2006, the Liberals won a majority with 29 out of 55 seats, making 38-year-old Shawn Graham the new Premier of New Brunswick on a platform called the Charter for Change, which pledged to focus on "the three Es": energy, education and the economy.[8]
In the 2010 general election, the Progressive Conservatives won 42 out of 55 seats, making David Alward the 32nd Premier of New Brunswick.[9] The controversy this time was over the planned sale of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec.[citation needed]
On 24 September 2014 Brian Gallant was elected
On 24 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 the People's Alliance of New Brunswick each won 3 seats.
On 14 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.
Government | Liberal | PC | Liberal | PC | Liberal | PC | |||||
Party | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2020 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Progressive Conservative | 3 | 6 | 44 | 28 | 26 | 42 | 21 | 22 | 27 | ||
Liberal |
58 | 46 | 48 | 10 | 26 | 29 | 13 | 27 | 21 | 17 | |
Green Party | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
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 |
Political culture and issues
This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (July 2021) |
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. In addition, the presence of a large francophone minority dictates that consensus politics is necessary, even when there is a majority government present. In this manner, the ebb and flow of New Brunswick provincial politics parallels the federal stage. The Premier suggests recipients of preferment within his remit to the Lieutenant Governor, who has not publicly disapproved them in recent memory. This preferment at times surfaces in the legal arena. Although the appointment process is normally "
Since 1960, the province has elected young bilingual leaders. This combination of attributes permits the premiers of New Brunswick to be influential players on the federal stage.[
A September 2010 report released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized the pensions made by members of the legislative assembly, which take 16 taxpayer dollars for every dollar contributed by the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and cost taxpayers $7.6 million annually.[18] According to the organization, New Brunswick legislators have one of the richest pension plans in the country, after voting for an 85 percent increase in 2008.[19]
See also
- Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
- Premier of New Brunswick
- Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
- Government of New Brunswick
- Executive Council of New Brunswick
- Council of the Federation
- Politics of Canada
- Political culture of Canada
References
- ^ a b statcan.gc.ca: "Canada Year Book - Local Government of Canada, 1915 — New Brunswick"
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Desserud, Donald; Hyson, Stewart (May 2012). "New Brunswick's Legislative Assembly". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 35 (1).
- ^ "Report of the Chief Electoral Officer - Fortieth General Provincial Election - September 14, 2020" (PDF). Elections NB. 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ a b Canada, Elections (2021-04-06). "Chapter 2 – A History of the Vote in Canada". www.elections.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
- ^ Elections, New Brunswick (2014-02-03). "New Brunswick Election History - Elections NB". www.electionsnb.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
- ^ "Legislative Assembly Act". December 30, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ Desserud, Donald; Hyson, Stewart (May 2012). "New Brunswick's Legislative Assembly". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 35 (1).
- ^ CBC News (September 2006). "Liberals topple Lord's Tories in New Brunswick". Retrieved 2007-02-15.
- ^ CBC News (September 2010). "Alward faces tough challenges after N.B. win". Retrieved 2011-02-12.
- ^ Tucker, Erika (23 September 2014). "Who is New Brunswick Premier-designate Brian Gallant?". Global News. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ^ Logan, Nick (23 September 2014). "N.B. election: Did shale gas and fracking sway the vote?". Global News New Brunswick. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ^ Annis, Roger (24 September 2014). "Pro-gas fracking government turfed in New Brunswick election". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ^ acadienouvelle.com: "Congédiement de Rino Volpé: la cause devant les tribunaux", 8 Jun 2016
- ^ cbc.ca: "Chief Justice David Smith 'surprised' by Liberal bill to curb his powers", 24 Feb 2016
- ^ cbc.ca: "Chief Justice defends his record of moving judges in province", 29 Feb 2016
- ^ cbc.ca: "Chief Justice David Smith continues fight against Liberal bill", 28 Apr 2016
- ^ Saint John Telegraph Journal: "New Justice Minister Is Offering Olive Branch To Judges", p. A1 8 Jun 2016
- ^ Canadian Taxpayers Federation (September 2010). "Report on New Brunswick MLA pensions, salaries and expenses". Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
- ^ CBC (September 2010). "Fight MLA pension hike: tax advocate". CBC News. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
Further reading
- Garner, John (1969). The Franchise and Politics in British North America, 1755-1867. Ottawa: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-3219-5.