Election day dawns in New Brunswick

Voters have until 8 p.m. to cast ballots that will determine which party governs the province

 

Jacques Poitras· CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2024 6:00 AM ADT

 

 

Green Party Leader David Coon, Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs and Liberal Leader Susan Holt are on the ballot Monday. (CBC)

It's election day in New Brunswick.

Voters in the province have until 8 p.m. to cast their ballots to help determine which party will govern — and whether it will have a majority in the legislature.

Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs is hoping to win a third term in office, which would make him the first premier to pull that off since Liberal Frank McKenna's victory in 1995.

Higgs has promised to continue the same approach to governing he has used for the last six years, which has led to six consecutive budget surpluses.

 

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He made only one major promise during the campaign: a two-point reduction to the 15-per-cent harmonized sales tax rate, phased in over the next two years.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt hopes to lead her party back to power after six years on the opposition benches.

She built her campaign around a commitment to address problems in the health-care system and help New Brunswickers with the high cost of living.

And the Green Party, seemingly entrenched as the province's third party on the left of the political spectrum, aims to re-elect its three MLAs who first won in 2018 and secured new terms in 2020.

The NDP, the People's Alliance and the Libertarian parties also have candidates on the ballot in some ridings. Two other parties, the Social Justice Party and the Consensus Party, failed to nominate enough candidates to remain officially registered.

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacques Poitras

Provincial Affairs reporter

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New Brunswick politics and history.