New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs officially calls provincial election

FREDERICTON -

New Brunswick’s 41st provincial election is officially underway

Premier Blaine Higgs met with Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy at Fredericton’s Government House on Thursday morning and an election writ was issued for Oct. 21.

“This election is a clear choice for New Brunswickers,” said Higgs, speaking to reporters after meeting with Murphy.

Higgs’ first speech of the campaign included the Progressive Conservative’s pre-campaign strategy of connecting provincial politics with federal.

“We cannot let Susan Holt and David Coon do to New Brunswick what Trudeau and Singh have done to Canada,” said Higgs.

“When I tie the federal government, their process over the last number of years and what Canadians are thinking about that, which is pretty evident, that’s why I tie in the connection between Susan Holt and David Coon. Because that will be a carbon copy of what we’ve seen federally.” 

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An Angus Reid poll also released Thursday morning had Higgs with the lowest approval rating of all provincial premiers at 30 per cent.

“This election is not about me,” said Higgs, when asked about the poll. “This election is about what’s happening in our province and who is best to continue that momentum.”

Liberal leader Susan Holt campaigned Thursday in Bathurst, Saint-Isidore, Miramichi, Moncton, and Fredericton.

“Our team is ready, we’re the only team that’s ready with all 49 candidates,” said Holt during an interview Thursday in Moncton. “We know the other teams are struggling with recruitment, but we’re on the ground, signs up, ready to go. We’ve been door knocking for months listening to New Brunswickers telling us it’s time for change.”

New Brunswick Liberal leader Susan Holt holds a sign for candidate Rob McKee. (Source: Derek Haggett/CTV News Atlantic)

The deadline for candidate nominations is Oct. 1. The PCs and Green Party both say they’ll have a full slate of candidates in all 49 ridings by then.

The Green Party is entering the election as the third party represented in the legislature. Leader David Coon told reporters on Thursday defeating Higgs was the party’s primary focus “so we can fix the problems that are plaguing New Brunswickers, starting with number one, the disaster that our health-care system has become.”

The Progressive Conservatives and Liberals have already released flagship promises ahead of the campaign’s official start.

The PCs have pledged to lower the HST from 15 per cent to 13 per cent.

The Liberals have identified the creation of 30 collaborative health-care clinics as their top promise, with 10 clinics in the first year.

The New Brunswick legislature’s seat count at dissolution was 25 for the PCs, 16 for the Liberals, three for the Greens, and one independent.

Speculation about an early election has dominated the province’s political scene for more than a year, following controversial changes to pronoun and gender identity policies within public schools and dissent within Higgs’ cabinet.

J.P. Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said there are roughly a dozen ridings in the province that may decide who leads government in the event of a close election night.

“A lot of those ridings are in New Brunswick’s largest cities,” said Lewis. “There’s also been a redistribution of the ridings, a redrawing of the map.

“Could that flip a couple ridings?”

Advance polls are open Oct. 12 and Oct. 15 between the Thanksgiving holiday. Elections New Brunswick has mailed out roughly 314,000 postcards asking residents to update their voter information if necessary.

-With files from CTV’s Derek Haggett and Sarah Plowan

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.