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David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks the circus was in really fine form when the liberals changed their mind about a conservative turncoat and allowed him to take on Higgy's pal the former NDP leader N'esy Pas?
#nbpoli#cdnpoli
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/liberal-collapse-sparks-reform-calls-1.5725537
Liberal collapse in anglophone ridings sparks calls for party reform
15 Liberal candidates finished 3rd or worse in their ridings Monday night
· CBC News· Posted: Sep 16, 2020 6:00 AM AT |
Kevin Vickers announced Monday night that he would step aside as Liberal leader. (Radio-Canada)
Last year Jen Smith was president of the provincial Liberal association in New Maryland-Sunbury and on Monday as a candidate she finished second in the election in that riding — for the Green party.
"I'm very very proud of myself and pleased for coming in second place," said Smith.
"It's sad in a way to see because I love that (Liberal) party and I love the people but I saw this happening last year."
Smith's defection is part of what turned out to be a widespread collapse of the Liberal machine in English New Brunswick on Monday night.
The party finished third or worse in 15 anglophone ridings and lost its last two central and southern New Brunswick footholds in the legislature with defeats in Saint John Harbour and Fredericton North and a key upper St. John River valley seat in Carleton-Victoria.
Vote totals for Liberal candidates in the eight ridings in and around Saint John fell to a combined 10,694, one third fewer than 2014, the last election Liberals won in New Brunswick.
In the eight ridings in and around Fredericton, three Liberal candidates finished third and three came fourth with the combined vote total of all eight candidates dwindling to 9,549, barely half the support of 2014.
Further south in the once firm Liberal stronghold of Charlotte County, it was even worse news for the party as it polled just 1,127 votes in the area's two ridings, down a stunning 85 per cent from six years earlier.
Liberal troubles in the area were exaggerated by the controversy surrounding its candidate John Wayne Gardner in Saint Croix. Gardner was disavowed by leader Kevin Vickers mid campaign for old Facebook posts about straight and rainbow flags and bilingualism, but he remained on the ballot as a Liberal choice for voters to the end.
In all, Liberals who won five of the 18 Saint John-, Fredericton- and Charlotte County-area seats in 2014, and two in 2018, took none this year and posted an historic low 15.7 per cent of the vote. That was third behind the PCs and Greens.
The area has become such a political desert for the party the nearest Liberal seat to St. Stephen is now 230 kilometres north in Grand Falls or 260 kilometres east in Moncton.
Alex Scholten, who ran provincially for Liberals in 2018 in New Maryland-Sunbury and won double the votes the party managed in the riding on Monday, said there are significant problems the party needs to overcome.
"It was a disappointing night," said Scholten in a message to CBC News about Liberal results all through central and southern New Brunswick.
"Obviously the party is not selling what the constituents in those areas are looking for."
Scholten blames a breakdown in internal party communications in recent years between ridings and central leadership for some of the problems but also believes the province itself is becoming increasingly fragmented.
"The wants and needs of various parts of the province are not homogeneous making it extremely difficult for a party to generate support province wide," wrote Scholten.
Has party learned from results?
Smith left the Liberal Party in a dispute over its treatment of René Ephestion, who she feels was pressured to abandon his bid for the party leadership in 2019 by insiders to clear the field for Vickers to be acclaimed leader.
Ephestion filed paperwork to run for the leadership but was convinced to withdraw in April 2019.
Smith feels Liberals need to become more democratic internally and avoid recruiting and anointing new leaders, like Vickers, who party members have no role in selecting.
"I hope they learn a lesson out of this," said Smith. "They treated him like a rootin' tootin' gun slinging hero that would save New Brunswick and obviously he couldn't even secure his own seat. I saw this coming."
'A tough evening'
The good news for Liberals is as poorly as it fared in southern New Brunswick, it was the opposite in francophone ridings.
The party piled up huge winning margins and added to past vote totals in a number of places from Edmundston in the northwest to Caraquet and Shippagan in the northeast.
Those rising vote totals helped the party paper over some of the collapse it suffered in the south, and after Vickers announced his departure Monday night, a new leader will inherit the task of fixing whatever is wrong.
"It is a tough evening,"said Vickers. "Obviously we'll be in a building process.
"It's time for another leader to step up and take the party forward."
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David Amos
David Amos Methinks the circus was in really fine form when the liberals changed their mind about a conservative turncoat and allowed him to take on Higgy's pal the former NDP leader N'esy Pas?
David Amos Reply to @David Amos: When I saw Higgy's pal featured in the news riding around the Hanwell on a silly new/old yellow bike I wondered if he bought it because it reminded him of his favourite butter tarts.
Robert Langue The Liberals could run a farm animal in certain ridings, and still win (Shediac Beaubassin Cap-Pele for example).
Claude DeRoche Reply to @Robert Langue:
Spread the COR Party H8!
Al Borland Glad that this outlet is finally pointing this out. Just look at the complete collapse in rural anglophone ridings. In a lot of ridings it's a two way between the PCs and the PANB.
Agree they will enjoy their schools and hospitals shutting down! Karma!
Guy Richard Surprising that the English have put up with abuse from SANB for so long, the writing was on the wall.
Mack Leigh Reply to @Guy Richard:
All funding both federally and provincially to groups the likes of SANB should cease and desist immediately. They have their own devious agenda and it is not to " promote " their language and culture among Canadians.
Thomas Imber The Liberals have essentially become the political wing of the Acadian society, so it shouldn't be a surprise that their support in most parts of NB has dropped.
A few terms in the political wilderness would do them good, and it would also allow the Greens to replace the Liberals as the second main political party in NB
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-chris-duffie-dominic-cardy-1.5664736
Once rejected by 2 political parties, Chris Duffie set to take on Dominic Cardy for Liberals
The Liberal candidate will run in Fredericton West-Hanwell
· CBC News· Posted: Jul 28, 2020 5:00 AM AT
After being rejected as a candidate by the PCs and the Liberals in the last provincial election, Chris Duffie will run for the Liberals in the riding now held by Education Minister Dominic Cardy. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
New Brunswick Liberals are turning to a candidate they rejected less than three years ago to take on Education Minister Dominic Cardy in his Fredericton-area riding.
Chris Duffie was nominated by acclamation to run for the Liberals in Fredericton West-Hanwell, the third time he has tried to get on the ballot.
"There's lots of good work to be done out in the riding," he said. "It's exciting and I'm looking forward to doing it."
Premier Blaine Higgs has been dropping hints that he may call an early election by this fall.
In 2017 Duffie, a Progressive Conservative supporter at the time, took the party to court, arguing it tried to prevent him from challenging incumbent PC MLA Carl Urquhart for the party nomination in the riding of Carleton-York.
Duffie had missed the deadline to file his paperwork but argued it was because the party didn't properly publicize that the nomination was coming up.
After a judge ruled that the PC party hadn't broken any of its rules, Duffie decided to run for the Liberals.
But the Liberals also rejected him, refusing to let him seek their nomination.
New leader helped
This year Duffie got the green light to run from the party's vetting process, but in a different riding.
He also said a new Liberal leader, Kevin Vickers, "goes a long way" toward him being able to run.
In 2017 the Liberals said they disqualified Duffie because, as a PC member, he had criticized then-Premier Brian Gallant and his government only months before.
He said it was because it would "generally not be appropriate for someone who runs for another party's nomination to run for the Liberal nomination in the same election."
Because Duffie has remained involved with the Liberals since 2018, "we have no further concerns in this regard," he said.
Duffie doesn't live in Fredericton West-Hanwell but says he did in the past, for about 15 years, and has "a great footprint" in the area.
Chances are 'pretty good'
Chris Duffie said he isn't nervous about taking on Education Minister Dominic Cardy in the next provincial election. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
He isn't nervous about taking on Cardy, one of the most high-profile ministers in the government of Premier Blaine Higgs. "I think my chances are pretty good or I wouldn't be doing this."
In 2018, Cardy won the riding with 31.8 percent of the vote, with Liberal Cindy Miles close behind with 27.9 percent.
"I believe my record will speak for itself, as will Mr. Duffie's," Cardy said in an emailed statement.
"Whenever the election is called, I hope we can have a conversation based on our parties' contrasting visions for the future of the people of Fredericton West-Hanwell, and for our province."
The Cardy-Duffie race won't be the first time they have crossed paths. During his 2017 court challenge, Duffie presented evidence that Higgs and Cardy had promised him a job if he stayed out of the PC nomination race.
Both the PCs and Liberals have started nominating candidates, or scheduling nominations, ahead of a possible campaign this year.
The PCs have 13 nominating conventions scheduled so far in the coming weeks, 12 for ridings they hold and one in Tracadie-Sheila, held by the Liberals.
The Liberals have already nominated four candidates, including three sitting MLAs. Duffie is the first candidate nominated in a riding held by another party.
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David Amos
David Amos
"I believe my record will speak for itself, as will Mr. Duffie's," Cardy said in an emailed statement.
Heres hoping that is true
Ray Oliver
You could run a fire hydrant against Cardy. Itll win. Heck. Vote Amos!!
How So???
Jos Allaire
The other three opposition parties do not ant election. New Brunswickers do not want elections. But Higgs wants an election. It is sure to blow up in his ugly face.
David Amos
Lou Bell
Liberals sure diggin at the bottom of the barrel looking for cndidates outside their SANB controlled ridings. First Vickers, and now Duffie . Add to that Arsenault and Gauvin, who never really were committed to the parties they supposedly represented until their true colours showed , an election looks bleak for the Liberlas . Melanson is scrambling to prevent one happening , grasping at any straws he can get his fingers on .
Reply to @Jos Allaire: Methinks you write a lot like Marguerite of old because you are like a moth to a flame N'esy Pas?
Lou Bell
Perhaps the Anglophone Liberal MLA's should disclose to their constituents what they knew about the UNDISCLOSED " Phonie Games " giveaway ! Were they also involved or were they OUT OF THE LOOP ??? Doesn't look good either way !!
Jos Allaire
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks you should be able to get the same info from your MLA No doubt you voted for the dude who sent me butter tarts as Higgy's chief of staff before the last election N'esy Pas?
Looks like the fine folks of Fredericton West-Hanwell are expected to hold their noses and vote.
You do realize who you are talking about? Clam up? Right.
David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks they just did it to me N'esy Pas?
Terry Tibbs
Reply to @David Amos:
I saw that earlier..............
David Amos
Reply to @David Amos: Nobody cares who you call.. You a a legend in your mind only.
Reply to @Eric Fowler: You think? Dave makes a great effort to keep us unformed on all the bee ess going on " in this place ", and he also runs in almost every election. If he was in my riding he would get my vote. I wish him the very best in all his political endeavors.
Reply to @David Amos: So much krap going on, it's hard to keep all the important stuff on the front burner. Good luck in the next election, if you throw your hat in.
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: "unformed" - did you mean informed or uninformed?
Reply to @Michel Forgeron: What letter is beside the u? Figure it out.
Reply to @David Amos: I don't care if you mention my name as long as you don't say that I am your friend.