Members of the New Brunswick legislature elected in last month's provincial election were sworn-in during a ceremony in Fredericton Friday.

David Coon became the first Green party member to be sworn-in as an MLA in the province.

The new Speaker of the New Brunswick legislature was also named Friday, but what is usually a straight-forward, non-contested process became political after the Progressive Conservatives criticized the Liberals’ choice.

The governing Liberals have chosen Chris Collins, the Liberal member for Moncton Centre, for the job but the Tories said Thursday they wouldn’t support that decision.

They said they would prefer to see Hugh Flemming, the Progressive Conservative member for Rothesay and former New Brunswick health minister, become the new Speaker.

In a news release, interim Progressive Conservative Leader Bruce Fitch said Collins “would not reflect well on the dignity of the Office of the Speaker.”

Fitch pointed to an incident at a downtown Fredericton bar in 2008 in which Collins was charged with assaulting a Tory staffer. At the time, Collins said his actions were unacceptable, and the assault charge was dismissed after he completed an alternative measures program.

“The events in which the Opposition are talking about, what we’ve found is that Chris Collins has gone to the public and gone to the people in his riding and asked for their support and they gave it to him,” said New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant.

The Speaker is chosen by a vote and the Liberals hold a majority in the legislature so there was little doubt Collins would be elected.

“It’s just politics,” said Collins. “I’m Speaker of the House, right? I’m not going to comment on anything political like that, I’m going to rise above it.”

After initially suggesting Collins wasn’t fit for the job, Fitch said he no longer has any concerns going forward.

“You have a vote, the vote counts, and again, we have another election down in Saint John that we’re going to concentrate one,” said Fitch.

A byelection is scheduled for Nov. 17 to fill the seat in Saint John East, which was left vacant when Liberal Gary Keating quit for health and family reasons.

The winner of the byelection will be sworn-in before the legislature resumes in early December to deliver a capital budget.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore and The Canadian Press