Residents in New Brunswick will be heading to the polls again for a provincial election on Sept. 14.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs met with Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy at Government House on Monday afternoon and asked her to dissolve the legislature.
“Today is not the day I had hoped for,” Higgs told reporters in a prepared statement following the meeting.
The election call comes just three days after the Liberals rejected the premier’s attempts to keep the Progressive Conservatives in power for two more years with the cooperation of the opposition.
Higgs said he thought they could have arrived at an agreement to govern with continued collaboration and stability until the fall of 2022 or until the pandemic was over.
“I wanted to be clear: that was my objective. But it was not to be because the opposition said no. They walked away and they gave up on sincere efforts to put New Brunswickers ahead of politics,” he said.
Higgs said he consulted with chief medical health officer, Dr. Jennifer Russell, and she advised a general election could be held during the pandemic.
But the Tory leader this election campaign will look much different than previous ones because of the restrictions caused by COVID-19.
“As difficult as it is to imagine, our candidates will not be going door-to-door and they will not be leaving any hand-delivered or brochures on your doorsteps. Candidates will need to be creative and innovative,” said Higgs.
Higgs briefly listed a number of priority areas in his news conference, including addressing mental health and addiction issues, enhancing supports for seniors and children, and plans to support and enhance natural the environment in the province.
He also identified two areas for concern for the economy: education, “a crucial starting point for future workers and leaders,” he said, and the COVID-19 recovery already underway.
“Our economy needs to not only recover, it needs to continuously reinvent itself and it needs to renew itself now like never before,” said Higgs.
The premier says the province is ahead of the curve and needs to keep getting stronger.
“We’re on the map of recovery. We’re on it faster than most and we’re driving a safe province working with our colleagues in Atlantic Canada,” he said. “I have confidence in our ability to manage COVID and not just get back to life without COVID, because we don’t know when that is going to be. It’s to keep moving, it’s to keep progressing and it’s to keep our recovery plan going well beyond just getting back to where we were six months ago.”
At dissolution, the PCs and Liberals each held 20 seats while the Greens and the People’s Alliance each had three seats. There are two vacant seats — Saint Croix and Shediac Bay-Dieppe — and one Independent.
With files from Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
Follow
