On a September evening in a Quispamsis bingo hall, a premier who had spent the pandemic being careful and unremarkable stood before a crowd of masked supporters and claimed the authority he had sought. New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives won 27 of 49 seats in a snap election held under the strange new rules of a health crisis, and the result gives Blaine Higgs a majority he called for because, as he put it, a province in hard times needs stability. The vote also deepens an old fault line between the English south and the French north, and it leaves the opposition to find a new leader and
Higgs' Progressive Conservatives Win Majority in New Brunswick's Pandemic-Era Election
"There's nothing like coming to a packed hall. This is life in COVID."
Mark
Why does this election matter beyond New Brunswick?
Mimi
It was the first in Canada since the pandemic started. Campaigns went on with masks, mailed flyers, livestreams and no handshakes, and Higgs thanked voters for showing it could be done safely.
Mark
And the result was decisive?
Mimi
Twenty-seven of 49 seats, with 25 needed. The Tories had 20 when the legislature was dissolved.
Luke
Careful with the causes, though. Higgs credited his leadership for low infections and a smaller economic contraction. That's the Tory argument. The reporting shows the results and the campaign pitch, not proof of why voters chose him.
Mark
Fair. What did opponents say?
Mimi
Vickers said the election was unwanted and that businesses were still hurting. Coon called for electoral reform. Austin said his party still has a foot in the door.
Mark
What about the language divide?
Mimi
The Tories made little progress in French-speaking ridings. They hold the English-speaking centre and south, the Liberals the north.
Luke
And what happens to that divide now is unknown. The story says it persists, not how Higgs will address it or who will lead the Liberals after Vickers.
Mark
So the next chapter is the Liberal leadership and how Higgs governs with a majority.
Mimi
Yes, with the pandemic still the central issue.
Der Puls
- A snap election called four weeks earlier has delivered Premier Blaine Higgs a bare majority of 27 seats, just two above the threshold.
- Campaigning under COVID-19 rules meant masked candidates, mailed literature and livestreamed events instead of handshakes and rallies.
- Opponents called the early vote opportunism, while smaller parties warned that a majority would silence the checks a minority government had provided.
- Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers announced his resignation on election night, leaving his party leaderless and the French-speaking north still firmly in opposition hands.
On a September evening in a Quispamsis bingo hall, a premier who had spent the pandemic being careful and unremarkable stood before a crowd of masked supporters and claimed the authority he had sought. New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives won 27 of 49 seats in a snap election held under the strange new rules of a health crisis, and the result gives Blaine Higgs a majority he called for because, as he put it, a province in hard times needs stability. The vote also deepens an old fault line between the English south and the French north, and it leaves the opposition to find a new leader and a new way of being heard.
Premier Blaine Higgs took the stage at a Quispamsis bingo hall on Monday night with his family, all wearing face shields. He removed his own shield, faced about fifty masked supporters standing two metres apart, and joked that this was simply life in COVID. The crowd had gathered to celebrate a result that few had expected: the first majority government won in Canada since the pandemic began.
The Progressive Conservatives took 27 of the 49 seats, the Liberals 17, the Greens three and the People's Alliance two. Higgs had called the snap election four weeks earlier, arguing that his 21-month-old minority government lacked the stability the province needed. His critics called it opportunism, but he had earned wide praise for his handling of the crisis, and he bet that voters would trust him. He presented himself as dull but dependable, and he promised that a majority would let his government focus on health care and public safety.
The campaign itself looked unlike any before it. Few candidates knocked on doors, and leaders spoke at livestreamed outdoor events with masked staff standing in the background. Past New Brunswick elections had turned on fracking, auto insurance and the future of NB Power. This time the province's low infection rates and its smaller economic contraction became the central argument, and the Tories credited all of it to Higgs's leadership.
Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers answered that the government was pretending life had returned to normal while businesses still struggled. Soon after Higgs spoke, Vickers announced he was stepping down. The Greens and People's Alliance warned that a majority would weaken the all-party approach that had served the province well, and the NDP was again shut out.
The Tories made little headway in the French-speaking north, where the Liberals still hold their ground. Higgs will govern a province that remains divided along linguistic lines, and the Liberals must now find a new leader to address that gap.
Blaine Higgs walked onto the stage of a Quispamsis bingo hall on Monday night with his wife and two daughters, all four wearing full face shields. At the podium he took his shield off, looked out at about 50 masked supporters standing two metres apart, and said with a smile: "There's nothing like coming to a packed hall. This is life in COVID."
The crowd was there to celebrate a majority government for New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives, the result of the first election held in Canada since the pandemic began. With all votes counted, the Tories won 27 ridings, the Liberals 17, the Greens three and the People's Alliance two. A majority in the 49-seat house required at least 25. Higgs thanked New Brunswickers for showing the country that democratic elections can be held safely during a pandemic, and said that whatever lay ahead, the province would have stability and experience guiding it through challenging times.
Higgs had called the snap election four weeks earlier, arguing that his 21-month-old minority government lacked the stability the province needed. His opponents called it opportunism. Higgs bet that voters would not see it that way, because he had earned wide praise for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis. In the final week he said he wanted a majority so the Tories could concentrate on health care and keeping people safe, and that any other result would put the province at risk. The 66-year-old former Irving Oil executive presented himself as dull but dependable. "Maybe I'm boring, but I'm no surprise," he said last month. "I'm consistent. You can trust me."
When the legislature was dissolved, the house stood at 20 Tories, 20 Liberals, three Greens, three People's Alliance members, one Independent and two vacancies. The result is the first time a New Brunswick government has won back-to-back terms since Bernard Lord's Tories were re-elected in 2003.
The 28-day campaign, which began Aug. 17, looked nothing like earlier ones. Few candidates knocked on doors, and those who did wore masks and stayed well back. There were no handshakes, no baby-kissing, no big rallies. Literature went out by mail, and leaders appeared at outdoor events that were livestreamed, with masked candidates standing far in the background. Higgs wore a plastic face shield at most stops.
Past New Brunswick campaigns turned on divisive issues such as hydraulic fracturing, soaring auto insurance rates and the proposed privatization of the Crown-owned utility NB Power. This one was about COVID-19. New Brunswick has one of the lowest infection levels in Canada, behind only P.E.I. and the territories, and Higgs made that his main talking point. He also cited forecasts that the province was leading the country in economic recovery, and noted its economy had contracted less than the rest of Canada because the virus was contained quickly. The Tories credited all of it to his leadership. Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers took a bleaker view, saying the Tories were pretending things had returned to normal while businesses were still feeling the effects of the pandemic. He also accused Higgs of heeding political advisers rather than New Brunswickers, and argued the election was neither wanted nor needed.
Vickers, acclaimed Liberal leader in 2019, was formerly the House of Commons sergeant-at-arms, credited with fatally shooting a gunman who fired a rifle inside Centre Block in 2014. Soon after Higgs spoke, he announced he was stepping down. "Obviously with the results of this evening, it's time for another leader to step up and take this party forward," he said.
The smaller parties had warned against a majority, pointing out that the minority arrangement, with an all-party cabinet committee handling COVID-19, had worked well. Green Leader David Coon said the outcome showed the need for electoral reform so premiers cannot simply have their way. People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he was disappointed but vowed to keep pressing for change, insisting his party still had its foot in the door. The NDP, led on an interim basis by 23-year-old Mackenzie Thomason, was shut out again, as in 2018.
The Tories did not make much headway in French-speaking regions. They dominate the English-speaking ridings of central and southern New Brunswick, while the Liberals hold the French-speaking north, a linguistic split that first appeared after the 2018 election and remains. With Vickers leaving, the Liberals will need a new leader, and Higgs will have to govern a province still divided along that line.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Maybe I'm boring, but I'm no surprise. I'm consistent. You can trust me.— Premier Blaine Higgs, during the campaign
It's time for another leader to step up and take this party forward.— Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers, announcing his resignation
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