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All 5 parties duking it out in Fredericton North have reason to dream of happy outcome
New Brunswick’s Legislative Assembly isn’t in the riding of Fredericton North, but you can see it from there.New Brunswick voters will head to the polls on Sept. 14 to decide who will be the province’s next leader. (Maria Burgos/CBC)New Brunswick’s Legislative Assembly isn’t in the riding of Fredericton North, but you can see it from…
New Brunswick's Legislative Assembly isn't in the riding of Fredericton North, but you can see it from there.
New Brunswick's Legislative Assembly isn't in the riding of Fredericton North, but you can see it from there.
And that's an apt visual metaphor for the constituency's importance in this provincial election: it fits into the ambitions of all five parties hoping to gain ground in the legislature.
The Liberals won the seat last time and must hold it if they hope to win power. But the Progressive Conservatives came close to beating them, and will have to win it this time to get the 25 seats they need for a majority government.
The People's Alliance, which took two adjacent ridings, weren't that far behind the PCs, and the growing Green popularity in the Fredericton area makes the riding perhaps the party's best shot for an additional seat.
“It really was a four-horse race last time,” said Allen Price, the Alliance candidate in the riding.
“It speaks to the diversity that we have in Fredericton North, and it also speaks to the desire of them to be heard.”
And don't forget interim NDP Leader Mackenzie Thomason, who is on the ballot there too.
“I think there is a real opportunity to make some headway for the NDP in Fredericton North,” said Thomason.
Liberal Stephen Horsman, a retired city police officer, scraped to victory in 2014 by just 144 votes. After four years as a cabinet minister in the Gallant government, he was re-elected in 2018 in another close race, winning by 261 votes.
Horsman had 31.6 per cent of the vote, while PC Jill Green, who is running again this time, won 28.2 per cent. The Alliance had 21.4 per cent, the Greens were at 17 and the NDP won 1.8 per cent.
Since then, Jenica Atwin has been elected as a Green MP in the larger federal Fredericton riding. And in the current campaign, the CBC Poll Tracker suggests the Greens have moved into second place in the area, ahead of the Liberals.
Candidate Luke Randall is telling voters that as a Green MLA, he'd have more freedom to speak out on riding issues, including housing and access to healthcare.
“As a third-party MLA,” he said, “I can say anything I want on behalf of my constituents. I'm there to represent them. I can dig into issues in a way a Progressive Conservative or a Liberal can't dig in.”
Randall is also pledging to employ someone in his MLA constituency office with a background in social work, health care or seniors issues to add the expertise needed to work on those issues.
Horsman said he's running on his record, which he said includes helping secure a new Shannex nursing home for the riding, getting provincial funding for a new roundabout and supporting local businesses.
‘Fredericton needs a new courthouse'
He's also saying a PC majority would give the Higgs government the freedom to make more cuts like the cancellation of a new Fredericton courthouse announced by the Liberals in 2017.
“This was a terrible move,” he said.
Horsman said the project would have allowed some provincial offices to relocate to a renovated adjacent Centennial Building, saving money spent on rent.
It also would have avoided the cost of moving some court functions to the Fredericton Convention Centre because of COVID-19 distancing concerns in the existing building, he said.
“I'm not asking for niceties, I'm asking for necessities. Fredericton needs a new courthouse.”
But Green said there have been no complaints about the cancellation during the “digital door-knock” sessions she's been holding online to meet riding residents.
“I've heard nothing,” she said.
Returning to school in a pandemic
Green said the leading issue among voters she has spoken to is the imminent return to school and how that will work with pandemic restrictions in place.
In a campaign video and during an interview, she also acknowledged the debate over whether the province should fund abortions at the private Clinic 554, which also offers a range of other services including sexual health and LGBTQ services.
“I'm willing to fight to keep those services available for our community,” she said, without taking a position on whether Medicare should cover abortions there. “I'll use my voice to help protect the people who use that clinic.”
Price grew up in the riding but has lived elsewhere for years, most recently because of his job at a private Christian university in Sussex. He's now looking for a house in the constituency as he runs for the Alliance.
“Fredericton North is a place where a lot of people choose to live, because of the sense of community, because of the diversity,” he said.
“We have small business owners, we have big business owners. We have artists, we have different languages, we have St. Mary's First Nation. … Win or lose, I'm coming back to Fredericton North.”
North side disconnected from the south
Thomason also doesn't live in the riding but said that durng the time he's spent there, he's concluded it doesn't get the same treatment as the south side of the city.
“The north side seems disconnected.”
The NDP hasn't won a seat in a provincial election since 2003, when then-leader Elizabeth Weir was last elected in Saint John Harbour. The party has never won a Fredericton riding.
Asked whether the Green vote might eat into his party's support, Thomason laughed.
“I don't think there's any NDP vote left to take,” he said. “The only place we have to go from here is up.”
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