Gallant takes full responsibility for byelection results CHRIS MORRIS Legislature Bureau FREDERICTON • Premier Brian Gallant says he takes full responsibility for the Liberal loss in the Saint John East byelection. Gallant said Tuesday that large numbers of Liberal voters in Saint John East appear to have stayed home, thereby handing Tory candidate Glen Savoie a comfortable election win. Savoie defeated second place Liberal candidate Shelley Rinehart by 827 votes in the Monday byelection. NDP Leader Dominic Cardy finished third. “I take full responsibility for the results last night,” Gallant said. “The Liberal party saw its vote go down and that gives us the impression that Liberals may have stayed home. There are perhaps a couple of reasons – some may have been frustrated by the situation in which we found ourselves in the byelection. As well, some may have wanted to send a message and they knew they could do it without toppling our Liberal government.” Opposition Leader Bruce Fitch was all smiles on Tuesday as he congratulated Savoie and predicted this could be the beginning of the end for the Gallant government. “I have heard some people say this is the beginning of the end for Premier Gallant,” the interim Tory leader told reporters in Fredericton. “It may take some time, but this is a beginning.” Fitch said that the addition of a Tory seat will make things uncomfortably tight for the Liberal government in the legislature. The standings now are 22 Tories, 26 Liberals and one Green seat. Liberal MLA Chris Collins is the Speaker and when legislature committees are in session, a Liberal deputy speaker will be in the chair, giving the Grits only a one-seat advantage during those meetings. “It is going to make it difficult for the Liberals to govern because of trips, going to conventions and ministerial meetings,” Fitch said. “If someone is sick or doesn’t show up, votes could be affected. It will be very important for the whips of the respective caucuses. If (the Liberals) lose a vote of confidence, we could be back into a general election.” Fitch said the byelection result sends a message of public discontent with the early direction of the Liberals. The final results of the Monday byelection were: 2,225 votes for Tory candidate Glen Savoie; 1,398 for Liberal candidate Shelley Rinehart; 1,099 for NDP leader Dominic Cardy; 262 votes for Green party candidate Sharon Murphy, and 38 for the People’s Alliance candidate Arthur Watson. Fitch said people were unhappy about the resignation of Gary Keating, the Liberal who won the seat by a mere nine votes in the Sept. 22 general election and then resigned a few days later citing health and family reasons. “There are gaps in that whole story,” the Tory leader said. He also said people have been unimpressed by a sometimes confused Liberal government message on the shale gas-drilling moratorium and the recent flap over a leaked email that raised the spectre of Liberal patronage jobs in roadwork. “They are lurching from crisis to crisis,” Fitch said. “People are concerned with the cracks that are appearing in the whole manner of doing business. The strong message is that they have to get their act in gear.” Gallant said whatever the reasons for the byelection result, he takes it as a message to do better. “Moving forward, we will have to do a better job as the Liberal party and I as leader, in inspiring all Liberals to continue to help us and inspiring the people of Saint John as well. We will try to move the whole province forward, including all regions.” Green Leader David Coon said the Liberals need to know that he intends to be in the House when it is sitting. The fall session begins on Dec. 3. “They won’t be able to count on my being absent,” Coon said. “I will be there and participating fully.” Coon said he campaigned in Saint John East during the byelection and felt that people were angry about having to return to the polls so soon after the general election. “I think the result reflects how angry people were about having to go back to the polls just two months after the general election,” Coon said. “I did quite a bit of door knocking last Thursday and I got that distinct impression at the door. They were ticked off.” Cardy, who finished third in the byelection, said the Liberals are alienating voters. “There were people who felt let down by the Liberals and unhappy with the way they have behaved since they won, considering everything from flip-flops on shale and the patronage email. There is a lot of discontent over the ways the Liberals have been handling things.” Bob Fowlie Director of Communications Official Opposition Tel: 506-453-4486 Cell: 506-440-0634 Fax: 506-453-3461
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:17:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015