1995 New Brunswick general election

1995 New Brunswick general election

←  1991 September 11, 1995 1999  →
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55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   PC Leader Frank McKenna Bernard Valcourt Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1985 1995 Leader's seat Miramichi-Bay du Vin Edmundston Last election 46 3 Seats won 48 6 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 201,150 120,247 Percentage 51.63% 30.87% Swing 4.52% 10.17%   Third party Fourth party   NDP CoR Leader Elizabeth Weir Greg Hargrove Party New Democratic Confederation of Regions Leader since 1988 1995 Leader's seat Saint John Harbour Mactaquac (lost re-election) Last election 1 8 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 8 Popular vote 37,579 27,684 Percentage 9.65% 7.11% Swing 1.13% 14.09%
Map of New Brunswick's ridings coloured in based on the winning parties and their popular vote
Premier before election Frank McKenna Liberal Premier after election Frank McKenna Liberal

Rendition of party representation in the 53rd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly decided by this election.

  Liberals (48)

  Progressive Conservatives (6)

  New Democrats (1)

The 1995 New Brunswick general election was held on September 11, 1995, to elect the 55 members of the 53rd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly.

The Liberals won their third consecutive majority government, with Premier McKenna's personal popularity aiding the Liberals in retaining a large majority. The PCs managed only 6 seats, while the CoR lost all theirs. The combined PC-CoR vote exceeded that of the Liberals in an additional 10 ridings (Albert, Fundy Isles, Kings East, Mactaquac, Petitcodiac, Saint John-Fundy, Southwest Miramichi, Victoria-Tobique, Western Charlotte and Woodstock).

Background

The election marked the debut of Bernard Valcourt as a provincial politician, and as leader of a reinvigorated Progressive Conservative Party. A popular politician from Edmundston, Valcourt had served as an MP from 1984 to 1993, serving in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell. The New Brunswick PCs had been in the political wilderness for the better part of a decade; they were shut out of the legislature in 1987, and only managed a third-place showing with 3 seats in 1991. The internal disarray of the CoR party had vacated room on the right for the PCs, and polls suggested a more competitive race than in the previous few elections.

Frank McKenna's Liberal Party sought a third term in government, as the Confederation of Regions (CoR) party struggled to survive after considerable internal strife. Elizabeth Weir tried to expand her New Democratic Party's foothold in the legislature.

This election was the first since 1974 to feature a boundary redistribution, with an overall reduction in the size of the legislature from 58 to 55 seats.

Opinion polls

Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level

Polling firm	Last day of survey	Source	NBLA	NBPC	NBNDP	CoR	Other	ME	Sample
Election 1995	September 11, 1995		51.63	30.87	9.65	7.11	0.75
Omnifacts	September 4, 1995	[1]	66	21	9	4	—	4.5	498
Corporate Research Associates	August 1995	[2]	64	12	5	6	—	—	—
Omnifacts	August 1995	[3]	56	15.9	4.6	1.4	—	—	614
Election 1991	September 23, 1991		47.11	20.69	10.78	21.18	0.24

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular Vote
				1991	Dissolution	Elected	% Change	#	%	Change
	Liberal	Frank McKenna	55	46	42	48	+4.3%	201,150	51.63%	+4.52%
	Progressive Conservative	Bernard Valcourt	55	3	6	6	+100%	120,247	30.87%	+10.17%
	New Democratic	Elizabeth Weir	55	1	1	1	-	37,579	9.65%	-1.13%
	Confederation of Regions	Greg Hargrove	36	8	6	0	-100%	27,684	7.11%	-14.09%
	Natural Law	Christopher Collrin	17	*	-	-	-	1,267	0.33%	*
	Independents		8	-	2	-	-	1,635	0.42%	+0.21%
	Vacant				1
Total			226	58	58	55	-5.45%	389,562	100%	-5.65%

* Natural Law did not contest the 1991 election.

Popular vote Liberal   51.63% PC   30.87% New Democratic   9.65% Conf. of Regions   7.11% Others   0.74%

Seats summary Liberal   87.27% PC   10.91% New Democratic   1.82%

Candidates

Many new and changed districts were used for the first time in this election as a result of an electoral redistribution.

Legend

• bold denotes a party leader
• italics denotes a potential candidate who has not received his/her party's nomination
• † denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election
• * denotes an incumbent seeking re-election in a new district

Northern New Brunswick

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
1. Restigouche West		Jean Paul Savoie 3,745		Luc LeBrun 3,230		Wendy Martin 200		Marcelle Lamontagne (Natural Law) 93		Jean-Paul Savoie
2. Campbellton		Edmond Blanchard 4,831		Florent Jim Levesque 1,207		Louis Renaud 425		Harold I. Hargrove (CoR) 368 Laurent Maltais (Natural Law) 93		Edmond Blanchard
3. Dalhousie-Restigouche East		Carolle de Ste. Croix 4,006		Gail Walsh 743		Aurèle Ferlatte 2,753		Charles Gendron Stewart (Ind.) 220 Chris Jensen (Natural Law) 81		Allan Maher†
									merged district
										Rayburn Doucett†
4. Nigadoo-Chaleur		Albert Doucet 4,421		Maxime Lejeune 2,555		Ulric DeGrâce 662		Francine Richard (Natural Law) 126		Albert Doucet
5. Bathurst		Marcelle Mersereau 4,956		Graham Wiseman 695		Kim Power 824		William Parker (Natural Law) 88		Marcelle Mersereau
6. Nepisiguit		Alban Landry 3,715		Anne-Marie Gammon 1,953		Normand Savoie 690		Andie Haché (Natural Law) 87		Frank Branch†
7. Caraquet		Bernard Thériault 4,367		Bernard Haché 1,804		Jean-Marie Nadeau 1,792		Marc Boulay (Natural Law) 68		Bernard Thériault
8. Lamèque-Shippagan-Miscou		Jean-Camille DeGrâce 4,124		Paul Robichaud 4,096		Daniel Brindle 222		Gilles Godin 56		Jean Gauvin†
9. Centre-Péninsule		Denis Landry 3,448		Roland Mallais 2,749		Pierre Cousineau 373			new district
10. Tracadie-Sheila		George McLaughlin 3,803		Elvy Robichaud 4,214		Aldoria Noël 172				Elvy Robichaud

Eastern New Brunswick

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
11. Miramichi Bay		Danny Gay 3,504		Jim Gordon 3,334		Mary M. Parker 237		Allison Furlotte (CoR) 91		Danny Gay
12. Miramichi-Bay du Vin		Frank McKenna 5,089		Scott Hickey 2,114		Debbie McGraw 617		Brian E. Farrah (Natural Law) 92		Frank McKenna
									merged district
										Reg MacDonald
13. Miramichi Centre		John McKay 4,081		Paul Dawson 3,803		Terry Carter 353				John McKay
14. Southwest Miramichi		Reg MacDonald* 3,227		Andy Dawson 2,326		Allan Goodfellow 337		Gerald Stewart (CoR) 1,055 Gayer Holmes (Ind.) 147		Brent Taylor†
15. Rogersville-Kouchibouguac		Kenneth Johnson 3,530		Hermel Mazerolle 2,728		Charles Richard 493			new district
16. Kent		Alan Graham 4,318		Stéphane Comeau 903		John LaBossiere 522		Percy R. Beers (CoR) 387		Alan Graham
									merged district
										Conrad Landry†
17. Kent South		Camille Thériault 6,313		Charles Ryan 1,774		Clifford Meunier 740				Camille Thériault
18. Shediac-Cap-Pélé		Bernard Richard 6,963		Jean-Claude Bourque 1,006		John Gagnon 543				Bernard Richard

Southeastern New Brunswick

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		CoR		Other
19. Tantramar		Marilyn Trenholme 3,414		Eric Wheeler 654		Berkeley Fleming 844		Julia Stevens 553				Marilyn Trenholme Counsell
20. Dieppe-Memramcook		Greg O'Donnell 6,639		Bernard Lord 2,181		Bernice Butler 577		Robert Henry 177				Greg O'Donnell
21. Moncton East		Ray Frenette 4,466		Brian Donaghy 1,302		Gérard Snow 854		Gerry Fullerton 604				Ray Frenette
22. Moncton South		Jim Lockyer 4,332		Bob Leighton 1,236		Blair McInnis 577		Don Freeman 861				James E. Lockyer
23. Moncton North		Gene Devereux 4,333		Marc LeBlanc 1,139		Mark Robar 608		Cyril Flanagan 945		Michael Boucher (Natural Law) 40		vacant
24. Moncton Crescent		Kenneth R. MacLeod 3,832		Barbara Winsor 1,489		Richard Hay 426		Dean Ryder 1,017		Richard Mullins 227	new district
25. Petitcodiac		Hollis Steeves 2,398		Charles Harmer 1,650		Jennifer Stairs 310		Tom Taylor 1,673				Dennis Cochrane†
26. Riverview		Al Kavanaugh 4,090		Scott MacGregor 1,712		David Bailie 317		Doug Roper 1,436				Gordon Wilden*
27. Albert		Harry Doyle 2,871		Wayne Steeves 1,964		Elizabeth Venart 353		Doug Duff 1,350				Beverly Brine†
28. Kings East		LeRoy Armstrong 3,074		Hazen Myers 3,030		Brian Stone 325		Gordon Willden* 548		Brian A. Chown (Ind.) 193		Hazen Myers

Greater Saint John & Fundy Coast

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		CoR		Other
29. Hampton-Belleisle		Georgie Day* 3,310		Ronald Hatfield 2,837		Shirley Short 870		Ben Macaulay 456		Neil Dickie (Natural Law) 69	new district
30. Kennebecasis		Peter LeBlanc 3,279		John van Kralingen 2,069		Elizabeth Thompson 1,522		Bob Ross 471			new district
31. Saint John-Fundy		Stuart Jamieson 2,447		Rodney Weston 2,263		Aubrey Fougere 968		Bernard Toole 224		Phyllis Johnston (Natural Law) 49		Stuart Jamieson
32. Saint John-Kings		Laureen Jarrett 3,176		Bill Artiss 2,561		Pam Coates 825				Gary Ewart (Ind.) 497 Allison Pring (Natural Law) 60	new district
33. Saint John Champlain		Roly MacIntyre 2,222		Lisa Keenan 1,547		Paula Tippett 1,888		Christina Green 200				George Jenkins†
34. Saint John Harbour		Robert A. Higgins 1,813		Lloyd Betts 702		Elizabeth Weir 2,901		Roland Griffith 137		Janice MacMillan (Natural Law) 52		John Mooney†
											merged district
												Elizabeth Weir
35. Saint John Portland		Leo McAdam 2,454		Trevor Holder 2,113		Greg Barry 1,507		Terry Van Duzee 209				Leo McAdam
											merged district
												Shirley Dysart†
36. Saint John Lancaster		Jane Barry 2,954		Norm McFarlane 2,673		Kenneth Wilcox 1,030		Peter Whitebone 215		Richard Gerrior (Ind.) 188 Christopher Collrin (Natural Law) 49		Jane Barry
37. Grand Bay-Westfield		Edward Kelly 1,583		Milt Sherwood 2,332		Julie Dingwell 1,471		Colby Fraser 527			new district
38. Charlotte		Sheldon Lee 3,645		Sharon Tucker 1,269		Eugene Dugas 124		Lynn Mason 107		Teresa James (Ind.) 54		Sheldon Lee
											merged district
												Eric Allaby
39. Fundy Isles		Eric Allaby* 1,201		Bob Jackson 1,111		Bill Barteau 77		John Cunningham 171			new district
40. Western Charlotte		Ann Breault 3,076		Ken Stevens 1,752		John Alexander 257		Tony Huntjens 1,590				Reid Hurley†
											merged district
												Ann Breault

Greater Fredericton

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		CoR		Other
41. Oromocto-Gagetown		Vaughn Blaney* 3,537		Jody Carr 1,861		Sandra Burtt 390		Ab Rector 914				Ab Rector
42. Grand Lake		Doug Tyler* 3,743		Stephen McCready 2,177		Danny Young 420		Connie Webber 1,501			new district
43. Fredericton North		Jim Wilson 4,235		Walter Brown 1,778		Elaine Perkins 1,074		Ross Ingram 1,569				Ed Allen†
44. Fredericton-Fort Nashwaak		Greg Byrne 3,241		Brent Bishop 1,464		Patricia Kennedy 929		Nancy Curtis 857			new district
45. Fredericton South		Russ King 4,141		David Peterson 1,980		Dick Grant 1,042		Dave O'Brien 776		Jeanne Geldart (Natural Law) 108		Russ King
46. New Maryland		Joan Kingston 3,719		Robert Penney 1,759		Eric Keating 636		Max White* 1,873			new district
47. York		John Flynn 3,632		Martin MacMullin 1,815		Mary van Gaal 546		Stephen Little 1,350		Patricia Carlson (Natural Law) 56		Danny Cameron†
48. Mactaquac		David Olmstead 3,106		Donald Parent 2,131		Thomas Steep 505		Greg Hargrove 1,755				Greg Hargrove

Upper Saint John River Valley

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
49. Woodstock		Bruce Smith 3,306		Fred Hanson 3,058		David Kennedy 530		Lynn Avery (CoR) 687		Bruce Smith
50. Carleton		Butch Green 3,216		Dale Graham 4,016		Deanna Grant 220		David Kilcollins (CoR) 438		Allison DeLong†
									merged district
										Dale Graham
51. Victoria-Tobique		Larry Kennedy 2,845		Greg Inman 2,838		Leslie Ferguson 114		Kevin Jensen (CoR) 592 Carter Edgar (Ind.) 109		Larry Kennedy
52. Grand Falls Region		Paul Duffie 4,583		Jean-Guy Laforest 2,301		André Faust 264				Paul Duffie
53. Madawaska-la-Vallée		Gérald Clavette 2,908		Percy Mockler 3,964		Jean-Marie St. Onge 118				Gérald Clavette
									merged district
										Percy Mockler
54. Edmundston		Roland Beaulieu 2,803		Bernard Valcourt 4,215		Maureen Michaud 102				Roland Beaulieu
55. Madawaska-les-Lacs		Georges Corriveau 3,085		Jeannot Volpé 4,060		John Nowlan 103				Georges Corriveau

References

1. "Poll predicts victory for N.B. Grits". The Globe and Mail. September 6, 1995. p. N7.
2. McIllroy, Anne (August 13, 1995). "Miles in front of the pack, McKenna still runs scared". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A5.
3. Cox, Kevin (August 12, 1995). "McKenna set to call vote for Sept. 11: Liberals' tough management line leaves Tories scrambling to come from behind". The Globe and Mail. p. A8.