Susan Holt wins N.B. Liberal leadership, promising 'breath of fresh air' in politics
![Susan Holt New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt is shown in this undated handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-New Brunswick Liberal Party/Rob Blanchard)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2022/8/8/susan-holt-1-6018381-1682364555498.jpeg)
New Brunswick Liberal Party members have chosen a political newcomer as their new leader after a campaign that saw her promote herself as a fresh voice in troubled times.
Susan Holt was named the winner at a leadership convention in Fredericton on Saturday.
Holt, who worked as an adviser to former premier Brian Gallant's government, said in her victory speech she hopes citizens discouraged by soaring inflation and health care shortfalls will see her as representing a shift in a political system that has bred cynicism and dissatisfaction.
"These difficult times call for something different. The people of New Brunswick have told us they are tired of politics as usual, they are tired of the conflict and the fighting, they are tired of partisanship. They want to see something different," she told party members gathered in a Fredericton convention hall.
Holt is promising increased transparency, improved relationships with the Indigenous population and a less confrontational style in the legislature.
The 45-year-old former civil servant lives in Fredericton with her husband Jon Holt and three young daughters, and said in a telephone interview on Saturday that when she worked in government it was in a non-partisan capacity.
"I had the chance to present to cabinet and to present legislation on the floor of the house and to see the dynamics of how the bureaucracy works and how the political arm works, and how it doesn't work, and where the dysfunction is," she said.
She also noted she has experience as a business lobbyist and advocate, providing her the opportunity to "see the system from a lot of different angles."
Holt said she's spent the past three years working for PQA and Plato Testing, an IT services company that trains and employs Indigenous people in technology careers.
"I've been very, very frustrated and angry at how this current government has treated Indigenous people. There's been an absolute lack of respect and we need to start a new journey," she said during an interview.
Holt noted in her acceptance speech that she is following in the footsteps of prior female leaders in provincial politics, including Shirley Dysart, who served as party leader in the mid-1980s, and Elizabeth Weir, a former provincial leader of the NDP.
She thanked Liberals for supporting "a woman who has never been elected, and who brings an eclectic background of business and community and international and local experience," to the leadership role.
Her victory over former federal Liberal member of parliament T.J. Harvey came after the third count of votes on Saturday afternoon. Former provincial cabinet minister Donald Arseneault was dropped after the first count, and Robert Gauvin, a member of the legislature for Shediac Bay-Dieppe, was dropped following the second.
The party used a weighted, preferential ballot system, allowing voters to rank their first, second, third and fourth choices for leader.
The four leadership candidates vied for a total of 100 points in each of the 49 ridings, with a total of 4,900 points available in the election.
The winner was required to take more than 50 per cent of available points, and Holt's victory -- with just under 52 per cent of the total available points -- came after Arsenault and Gauvin's second-place votes were counted.
The complex vote-counting system created a see-saw result through the afternoon, as Harvey was ahead in the first two counts until Holt surged to the win after the final tally.
It's expected Holt will lead the official Opposition into the next provincial election against the governing Progressive Conservatives led by Premier Blaine Higgs.
The Liberals currently hold 16 seats in the 49-seat legislature and have lost the last two elections to the Tories, who hold 30 seats, while the Green Party has three seats.
-- Story by Michael Tutton in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2022
Correction
This is a corrected story. A previous version said T.J. Harvey was a former cabinet minister. Harvey was, in fact, a federal Member of Parliament.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977053.1721909931!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Canadian women's soccer team staffer given suspended prison sentence over drone incident, prosecutor says
A Canada women's soccer team staffer has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after flying a drone to film the closed-door training session of the New Zealand team on Monday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.