Results of the 1999 election
[[Image:Nb-seating-1999.png|thumb|right|250px|Rendition of party
representation in the
54th New Brunswick
Legislative Assembly decided by this election.
]]
The
June 7, 1999 election in the Canadian
province of
New
Brunswick
marked the
debut of both Camille
Thériault and Bernard Lord as
leaders of the Liberals and Progressive
Conservatives respectively. It was
Elizabeth Weir's third general election as
leader of the
New
Democratic Party. The election was held on
June 7 1999.
Thériault's Liberals were widely expected to win a fourth majority
government from the outset of the campaign, and
opinion polls showed them leading by double but
Lord's Tories were able to capitalize on the issue of
highway tolls and use it to portray the
Liberals as arrogant. Lord made an effective
wedge issue on tolls, saying they were unfair to
people who lived near the toll booths and would have to drive
through them daily and also as an example of arrogance and uncaring
from the Liberals. Lord then pledged to implement 20 of his key
promises in his first 200 days in office, he styled this as "200
Days of Change", a message which was modelled on the
Contract with America and the
Common Sense Revolution, and it
resonated with voters. Another disadvantage for the Liberals was
the loss of former premier
Frank
McKenna, who had retired after 10 years in office in 1997.
McKenna was very popular and Thériault had difficulty shaking
negative comparisons between himself and his predecessor.
Following a huge surge in the final weeks of the campaign, Lord
became
Premier with his
party winning its largest majority in the history of New Brunswick.
Lord's tories also won the majority of Acadian seats, something the
PC Party in New Brunswick had struggled to do in the past.
Lord's win was 44 of 55 seats, at 80% a huge
majority, was viewed as remarkable by
all parties. Thériault, who came off in the campaign as cold and
uncharismatic, ironically made what pundits thought was his best
speech of the campaign on election night when he said "the people
of New Brunswick have spoken, and the people of New Brunswick are
never wrong". However, Lord's massive victory caused a
domino effect which defeated many Liberals
which had been viewed by pundits as undefeatable.
Summary of results
Narrow wins and loses
A lot of Liberals, many high profile, lost their seats by very
narrow margins while some barely survived. Below is a list of the
14 ridings (over a quarter of all districts) decided by less than
10%. Incumbent Liberal cabinet ministers are in
bold, other incumbents are in
italics.
See also
Wikis
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