- Saint John Harbour
Saint John Harbour is a provincial
electoral district for the Legislative Assembly ofNew Brunswick ,Canada . It was represented from its creation for the 1995 election untilOctober 13 2005 byElizabeth Weir , the leader of theNew Democratic Party of New Brunswick from 1988 toSeptember 25 2005 . It is currently represented by LiberalEd Doherty who won aby-election onNovember 14 2005 and was re-elected in the 2006 general election.Prior to the New Brunswick electoral redistribution of 1994 another riding called Saint John Harbour existed. The former Saint John Harbour district was split in two with part being merged with
Saint John South to form this current Saint John Harbour district, while the other half of the former Harbour district became a part ofSaint John Lancaster .Redistribution changes
This district was created in the early 1990s using all of the district of
Saint John South and a small portion of the old Saint John Harbour district, resulting in some confusion as most of what had been known as Saint John Harbour became a part ofSaint John Portland .In the 2006 redistribution it underwent only minor changes.
2006 election
Liberal Ed Doherty faced NDP candidate Dan Robichaud, who he had run against in the 2005 by-election, as well as Conservative candidate
Idee Inyangudor , an aide to a member of the cabinet andperennial candidate David Raymond Amos .The results were as follows (comparisons to the last general election):
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LiberalEd Doherty
align="right"|2690
align="right"|60.86%
align="right"|+33.2%
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Progressive ConservativeIdee Inyangudor
align="right"|1139
align="right"|25.77%
align="right"|-3.1%
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New DemocraticDan Robichaud
align="right"|547
align="right"|12.38%
align="right"|-31.0%
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IndependentDavid Raymond Amos
align="right"|44
align="right"|1.00%
align="right"|-
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colspan=6|
- bgcolor="white"
align="left"|Liberal hold.
align="right"|Majority
align="right"|1551
align="right"|35.09%2005 by-election
Elizabeth Weir , who had held this riding since its creation, resigned onOctober 13 ,2005 andPremier of New Brunswick Bernard Lord called aby-election for the riding onOctober 15 . The by-election was held onNovember 14 ,2005 and was from the outset thought to be a close race between Lord's Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals with Weir's New Democrats unlikely to be able to compete without her personal popularity, particularly against the large organizations the other parties were likely to bring into the riding from around the province.In the end the Liberals won the race in a landslide, more than doubling their vote over the previous election, with an absolute majority of 55% in a race with four candidates. Bernard Lord placed his reputation on the line, according to pundits, due to his choice of a high profile candidate and his announcing over $50 million in spending over the course of the four week campaign. As a result, many viewed this election as a huge blow to Lord's leadership and that it, along with two years of opinion polling showing Lord's PCs trailing the Liberals, the beginning of the end of his government.
The by-election also had immediate province-wide repercussions, bringing the standings in the legislature to 27 government, 27 opposition and the speaker. These standings would mean that the absence of one government member - even if he or she did not vote with the opposition - could defeat the government.
Candidates
Ed Doherty
The
New Brunswick Liberal Association nominated localophthalmologist Ed Doherty as their candidate onOctober 18 ,2005 . He won the nomination by acclamation after past candidate Anne-Marie Mullin dropped out of the race to back Doherty.Doherty is well known in the community as a volunteer in numerous community and international groups and was a candidate against
Paul Zed for the federal Liberal nomination for Saint John in the 2004 election.Michelle Hooton
Lord's Progressive Conservative Party nominated
star candidate Saint Johndeputy mayor Michelle Hooton onOctober 17 ,2005 . Hooton was placed 1st out of 50 candidates in the 2004 municipal election which, by precedent, made her deputy mayor. Lord invoked rules in the PC Partyconstitution which allowed him to bar any other candidates from the race as the by-election had already called and, as a result, Hooton was acclaimed at the nomination for the PC Party.Glen Jardine
Glen Jardine registered as an independent candidate. He owns a local furniture store and several apartment buildings in the riding but lives outside of its boundaries. Jardine said that he is politically aligned closely with the Liberals but could not organize a run against Ed Doherty for the nomination in the quick turnaround time between the election call and the candidate selection. He has said he plans to move to the riding within in the next year.
Dan Robichaud
Dan Robichaud was nominated by the
New Brunswick New Democratic Party , whose Elizabeth Weir held the riding prior to the by-election, onOctober 20 . Robichaud, with 10 votes, defeated Sharon Flatt, with 6 votes, an environmental activist, and Terry Albright the past president of the New Brunswick NDP, with only 3 votes, on the first ballot.Robichaud, who owns a local
stained glass business, is making his second attempt at elected politics. He ran in 2004 for Saint John city council and finished 42nd out of 50 candidates.Timeline
*
October 13 ,2005 - Elizabeth Weir resigns from the seat to accept the post of President and CEO of the newEnergy Efficiency and Conservation Agency .
*October 14 ,2005 -Michelle Hooton announces she will be a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives in the by-election.
*October 15 ,2005 - The Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives both hold their conventions, which were previously scheduled. Bernard Lord, the premier and leader of the PCs, drops the writ at his convention.
*October 17 ,2005 - Hooton is acclaimed as PC candidate.
*October 18 ,2005 - Dr. Ed Doherty is acclaimed as Liberal candidate.
*October 20 ,2005 :
**Glen Jardine files papers to run as an indepedenent.
**Dan Robichaud is elected as New Democratic Party candidate in a three-way race, though only 19 people voted at his nominating meeting.
*October 21 ,2005 - The Liberals announce their platform for the by-election, promising to invest $50 million in and around the riding if they win the next general election. The Liberals highlight that the majority of this money would come from federal funding which is available but Lord has refused to accept based on the conditions attached thereto. They argue that Lord is putting politics ahead of people.
*November 1 ,2005 - An all candidates debate is co-hosted byRogers Cable and the "New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal "newspaper , Independent Glen Jardine does not participate due to his late announcement as a candidate. The debate is televised twice, once on each of the two following days.
*November 8 ,2005 - An all candidates debate is held live on popularradio talk show "Talk of the Town" onCFBC . All four candidates participate.
*November 9 ,2005 - Michelle Hooton unveils her platform. Unlike the Liberal candidate, she does this individually. Where the Liberals promised what they would do with Doherty as a part of their team, Hooton promised what she would try to change from within the government if she was elected. She promised to change the government's position on nursing home payments, powers of municipalities in dealing with slum landlords, harbour cleanup, the St. Joseph's Hospital and affordable housing caps. She also pledged to build a new justice complex, a skateboard park, several community police stations and focus on waterfront development.
*November 11 ,2005 - A "Telegraph Journal" /Corporate Research Associates poll reveals a runaway lead for Doherty. The poll shows Doherty at 31%, Hooton at 10%, Robichaud at 9% and Jardine at 1% with 34% undecided. Undecided voters were asked if they were leaning toward any candidate and, with leaning voters factored in, the result was Doherty 53%, Hooton 20%, Robichaud 19% and Jardine 2%.
*November 14 ,2005 - Ed Doherty wins the election in a landslide. He takes the stage to read his victory speech at 9:05 local time (1 hour, 5 minutes after the polls have closed) to announce Michelle Hooton has conceded to him. As of his announcement, he is ahead of Hooton by more than a 2 to 1 margin.Results
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LiberalEd Doherty
align="right"|2367
align="right"|55.3%
align="right"|+27.6%
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Progressive ConservativeMichelle Hooton
align="right"|1136
align="right"|26.5%
align="right"|-2.4%
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New Democratic
Dan Robichaud
align="right"|734
align="right"|17.1%
align="right"|-26.3%
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Independent
Glen A. Jardine
align="right"|47
align="right"|1.1%
align="right"|-
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colspan=6|
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align="left"|Liberal gain.
align="right"|Majority
align="right"|1231
align="right"|28.7%Earlier results (1995-2003)
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New DemocraticElizabeth Weir
align="right"|2901
align="right"|51.8%
align="right"|*
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LiberalRobert Higgins
align="right"|1813
align="right"|32.3%
align="right"|*
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Progressive Conservative
Lloyd Betts
align="right"|702
align="right"|12.5%
align="right"|*
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Confederation of Regions
Roland Griffith
align="right"|137
align="right"|2.4%
align="right"|*
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Natural Law
Janice S. MacMillan
align="right"|52
align="right"|0.9%
align="right"|*
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colspan=6|
- bgcolor="white"
align="left"|N.D.P. hold*.
align="right"|Majority
align="right"|1088
align="right"|19.4%* This was a new riding created out of a merger of the whole of the electoral district ofSaint John South and a part of the former district of Saint John Harbour. Weir was the incumbent from Saint John South.-
New DemocraticElizabeth Weir
align="right"|2398
align="right"|46.6%
align="right"|-5.2%
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Progressive Conservative
Tim Clarke
align="right"|1349
align="right"|26.2%
align="right"|+13.7%
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Liberal
Mark Thomas McNulty
align="right"|1347
align="right"|26.2%
align="right"|-6.1%
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Natural Law
Thomas Mitchell
align="right"|54
align="right"|1.0%
align="right"|+0.1%
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colspan=6|
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align="left"|N.D.P. hold.
align="right"|Majority
align="right"|1049
align="right"|20.4%-
New DemocraticElizabeth Weir
align="right"|1929
align="right"|43.4%
align="right"|-3.2%
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Progressive Conservative
Dennis Boyle
align="right"|1286
align="right"|28.9%
align="right"|+2.7%
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Liberal
Anne-Marie Mullin
align="right"|1231
align="right"|27.7%
align="right"|+1.5%
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colspan=6|
- bgcolor="white"
align="left"|N.D.P. hold.
align="right"|Majority
align="right"|643
align="right"|14.5%External links
* [http://www.gnb.ca/legis/index.asp Website of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick]
* [http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/pre/2005e1368pr.htm 2005 By-election announcement]
* [http://www.gnb.ca/elections/03prov/03provbyelections-e.asp 2005 By-election page at the site of the Chief Electoral Officer]
* [http://danculberson.com/index.php?show
]
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