The , more popularly known as the '''New Brunswick Liberal Party''' or '''Liberal Party of New Brunswick''', is one of the two major
Political Parties in the
Canadian Province of
New Brunswick . The party descended from both the
Confederation Party and the
Anti-Confederation Party whose members split into
Left Wing and
Right Wing groups following the creation of Canada as a country in
1867 .
The left leaning organization emerged in the
1880s to serve as an organization housing the supporters of
Premier Andrew G. Blair and, later,
Federal Liberal leader
Wilfrid Laurier .
Today, the New Brunswick Liberal Party competes with the
Progressive Conservatives to form the
Government . The
Social Democratic New Democratic Party Of New Brunswick is the only other major party, but it is not a contender for government.
Like its sister organizations in
Newfoundland And Labrador ,
Nova Scotia ,
Prince Edward Island and
Saskatchewan , the NBLA serves both the federal Liberal party and acts as the provincial party. Thus, its leader acts only in the provincial capacity, but the party executive organizes for both provincial and federal election campaigns.
The party's federal wing boasts 6 of the 10
Members Of Parliament (MPs) in the province, including former cabinet minister
Andy Scott . For more information on the federal branch of the NBLA, see the
Liberal Party Of Canada (New Brunswick) .
]]
Prior to
Canadian Confederation , advocates of
Responsible Government ran under the labels "Reform" or "Liberal", while opponents of responsible government were known as "Conservatives". With the debates over confederation in the 1860s, the party lines which had emerged blurred as Reformers split along pro and anti-Confederation lines, resulting in
Confederation and
Anti-Confederation Parties .
Following 1867, supporters of Confederation generally became known as
Liberal-Conservative s, or just Conservatives. Those who had been against confederation regrouped loosely as "Liberals", but did not become a coherent party until Andrew Blair, a supporter of Confederation, became
Premier Of New Brunswick and forged members of his
Parliamentary Government and their supporters into the New Brunswick Liberal Association in
1883 .
Blair led a very successful government and served as
Premier of the province for 13 years. He was New Brunswick's longest serving premier until his tenure was surpassed by
Richard Hatfield nearly a century later.
Though Blair had not been a candidate in the
1896 Federal Election , he joined the
Federal Cabinet of Sir
Wilfrid Laurier shortly thereafter when Laurier approached a number of Liberal premiers to join his government and address its lack of experience. This move was not expected by the party and, although it remained in government for 12 more years, it went through a rapid succession of leaders.
After Blair abruptly left the province to join Wilfrid Laurier's cabinet in 1896, the Liberals had a leadership vacuum.
James Mitchell , who had been
Provincial Secretary , served briefly as premier, but Mitchell soon resigned the post due to ill health. Mitchell was replaced by
Henry R. Emmerson , who showed some promise but lost the
Confidence of the house when he tried to introduce
Women's Suffrage in
1900 .
The party was saved electoral disaster when
Lemuel J. Tweedie , a
Federal Conservative , replaced Emmerson, and won two large majorities at
General Elections . Though women's suffrage could not be introduced in the province, he admitted women into the practice of law in
1906 , and began the first major
Hydroelectric project in New Brunswick at
Grand Falls . Tweedie unexpectedly accepted the appointment of
Lieutenant-Governor Of New Brunswick in
1907 , and the Liberals soon found themselves again in a leadership vacuum.
William Pugsley became leader and premier, but left the post after a few months to join the Laurier's government in Ottawa. His replacement,
Clifford W. Robinson was able but the electorate grew weary of the ever-changing face at head of their government, and the Conservatives swept to power in
1908 .
The Conservatives were an easy choice for many New Brunswickers in the
1908 Election as they had been led since
1899 by
John Douglas Hazen , a man with whom they had become familiar. Haven served only briefly, leaving in
1911 to join the federal cabinet of
Robert Borden , and was replaced by the charismatic and popular
James Kidd Flemming . The Liberals were easily defeated by Flemming in
The 1912 Election , however, after Flemming was forced to resign in
1914 over a fundraising scandal, the Liberals seemed on track to return to government. This liklihood was reinforced by the lackluster administration of
George Johnson Clarke who was in ill health throughout his term. The Liberals were victorious in the
1917 Election .
In the midst of the depression, the Liberals made a resurgence in
1932 with
Allison Dysart becoming premier. McNair was Dysart's right hand, serving as Attorney General until replacing him as premier in 1940. McNair served until 1952 when he was defeated by
Hugh John Flemming .
During the
1960 s, the Liberals under
Louis Joseph Robichaud were instrumental in bringing
Acadians into the mainstream of life in New Brunswick, declaring the province to be officially
Bilingual . The
English and
French languages were given equal status.
Following defeat in the
1970 Election , the Liberals were largely in disarray. The party's prospects in
1978 were good, but it changed leaders on the eve of the election, and was defeated narrowly by the Progressive Conservatives. The PCs won 30 seats in the
Legislative Assembly to the Liberals' 28. Between 1978 and the
1982 Election , the Liberals had four different leaders. the party suffered its worst defeat since parties were legally recognized in the province in
1935 .
In
1985 , the party choose
Frank McKenna as leader. McKenna, a young lawyer representing
Chatam in the legislature in his first term, ran as the underdog candidate in a leadership campaign against party stalwart
Ray Frenette . Frenette had served as
Interim Leader from the disastrous
1982 Election until the eve of the 1985 leadership race. McKenna won by significant margin.
McKenna immediately set out to prepare the party for returning to government after 15 years in
Opposition . The momentum was on the side of the Liberals and it seemed inevitable that McKenna would be premier as soon as an election was held. Few expected, though, that the Liberals would sweep the province, winning every seat -- the second time this had happened in
Canadian History (the first time was in the
1935 PEI Provincial Election ).
McKenna was regarded as a fiscal conservative and was called by some the "Best
Tory Premier New Brunswick never had". Despite this, McKenna was a progressive on many issues. He made considerable cuts to social programs because of the province's dire fiscal situation and cuts to federal
Equalization Payments and other transfers. He also instituted new programs. Notably, McKenna instituted a publicly funded
Kindergarten program -- something that had been promised by the Hatfield Conservatives in the previous four elections. McKenna also launched a home care program called "Extramural Nursing" which has been hailed as the best in Canada. In the
2002 Romanow report on the
Future Of Healthcare In Canada , New Brunswick's system was specifically cited as a model for homecare in Canada.
Despite riding high in the polls, McKenna resigned on
October 13 ,
1997 , ten years (to the day) since his first election as premier, fufilling a promise to serve for only ten years.
McKenna was replaced by Frenette, who had served as his right-hand in the legislature throughout his term. Frenette served as premier for the following seven months while the party chose a new leader. Frenette was replaced by
Camille Thériault who served as premier until the
1999 Election . The Liberals were defeated in that election despite having begun the campaign with a double-digit lead in
Opinion Polls .
In the
1999 election, the Liberals suffered their worst ever defeat, wining only 10 seats. In
2000 , Liberal
Member Of The Legislative Assembly (MLA)
Bernard Thériault resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the
Canadian House Of Commons in
Acadie-Bathurst , and
Edmond Blanchard resigned to accept an appointment to the
Federal Court Of Canada . The Progressive Conservatives won both of these seats in
By-elections in early
2001 , reducing the Liberals to eight seats in the legislature.
Although the by-election losses were due mainly to Tory promises to reward those who returned a government member, this was a further blow to Camille Thériault's leadership. He resigned from the party leadership and the legislature on
March 21 ,
2001 .
Bernard Richard , who had finished third in the leadership contest against Thériault in
1998 , became
Interim Leader .
candidate
Victor Boudreau , Liberal leader
Shawn Graham , and former Liberal
Premiers Louis Robichaud ,
Frank McKenna and
Ray Frenette ]]
In the following leadership contest, there were many candidates that appeared briefly, but withdrew. The original likely candidates were former
Cabinet Minister Paul Duffie , former McKenna adviser
Francis McGuire , and
Moncton lawyer
Mike Murphy . McGuire, after briefly considering a bid, declined. Murphy began the formative stages of a campaign, but abruptly withdrew, surprising many of his supporters. This left Duffie largely unchallenged. The only other candidate was former party organizer
Jack MacDougall who had abruptly left the party in the midst of the 1999 campaign.
Many in the party felt that Duffie, who was close to Thériault, was the wrong choice. Richard was urged to abandon the interim leadership and contest the race. He also began a formative camaign but soon announced he would continue as interim leader instead. Finally, after the campaign had already begun in earnest,
Shawn Graham , a rookie MLA in his early 30s, announced his candidacy in
January ,
2002 . Graham, who was largely underestimated by Duffie, took to a convincing lead in delegate selection meetings. Duffie withdrew, leaving Graham to face only MacDougall whom he defeated by a 3-to-1 margin.
The party chose Shawn Graham as leader on
May 11 ,
2002 . Graham continued to be underestimated by the press and by the governing Conservatives. Shocking pundits, Graham nearly won the
2003 Election taking 26 of 55 seats in the
New Brunswick Legislature . Richard, who was re-elected in 2003, accepted a provincial appointment on
November 26 ,
2003 . This was in a move by the Conservatives to improve their standing in the winter and spring sessions of the legislature and was viewed as a serious blow to Graham's leadership. Despite this, the Liberal's have led consistently in
Opinion Polls since then and the Liberal's regained Richard's seat in a by-election.
