Saint John Harbour

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Saint John Harbour is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was represented from its creation for the 1995 election until October 13, 2005 by Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the New Democratic Party of New Brunswick from 1988 to September 25, 2005. It is currently represented by Liberal Ed Doherty who won a by-election on November 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 of Saint John Lancaster.

[edit] Redistribution changes

The boundaries of the original Saint John Harbour (red) overlayed with the boundaries of this district as it stood from 1995 to 2006 (blue)

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 of Saint John Portland.

In the 2006 redistribution it underwent only minor changes.

[edit] 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 and perennial candidate David Raymond Amos.

The results were as follows (comparisons to the last general election):

[edit] 2005 by-election

Elizabeth Weir, who had held this riding since its creation, resigned on October 13, 2005 and Premier of New Brunswick Bernard Lord called a by-election for the riding on October 15. The by-election was held on November 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 immeadiate 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.

[edit] Candidates

Ed Doherty

The New Brunswick Liberal Association nominated local ophthalmologist Ed Doherty as their candidate on October 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 John deputy mayor Michelle Hooton on October 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 Party constitution 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, on October 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.

[edit] Timeline

• October 13, 2005 - Elizabeth Weir resigns from the seat to accept the post of President and CEO of the new Energy 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 by Rogers 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 popular radio talk show Talk of the Town on CFBC. 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.

[edit] Results

[edit] Earlier results (1995-2003)

* This was a new riding created out of a merger of the whole of the electoral district of Saint John South and a part of the former district of Saint John Harbour. Weir was the incumbent from Saint John South.

[edit] External links

• Website of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
• 2005 By-election announcement
• 2005 By-election page at the site of the Chief Electoral Officer
• Photos of By-Election Candidate Ed Doherty on Winning Night