N.B. election campaign kicking off for Oct. 21 vote
CBC
New Brunswick's provincial election campaign is finally getting underway this morning.
After more than a year of political turmoil within the Progressive Conservative government — and after coming close to triggering an early election a year ago — Premier Blaine Higgs is launching his bid for a third mandate.
He's expected to meet Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy at 10:30 a.m. to formalize the dissolution of the legislature and send New Brunswickers to the polls on Oct. 21 to elect 49 new members.
CBC News will be livestreaming Higgs's scrum with reporters after his meeting with the lieutenant-governor.
A win would make Higgs the first New Brunswick premier to secure a third term since Frank McKenna in 1995.
The Progressive Conservative leader held no public events Wednesday.
Nor did Liberal Leader Susan Holt, who is looking to end Higgs's six-year tenure and return her party to power.
Holt also opted against any final pre-campaign events on Wednesday, instead releasing a short promotional video attacking the PC record on health care and the cost of living.
"The choice in this election has never been more clear," she said.
The Greens, the only other party with seats in the legislature heading into the campaign, held its launch in Fredericton Wednesday.
Leader David Coon said his party is aiming to take power despite its third-place standing.
He pointed out that the Greens have defied predictions in the past — when he was elected as the party's first MLA in 2014, and when it elected a total of three MLAs in 2018 and again in 2020.
"To my amazing candidates and their volunteers, when they say a Green government cannot be elected in New Brunswick, flash a big smile and keep knocking on those doors," he told an outdoor rally that included most of the party's candidates.
"It's going to be bye-bye, Blaine Higgs."
