Restigouche-La-Vallée is a provincial electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada. It elects one member for the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
It was created in 2006 as a result of a merger of the old district of Madawaska-la-Vallée with the district of Restigouche West less small portions on the extreme edges of both districts.
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The district was first used in the 2006 provincial general election and featured a battle of incumbents. Percy Mockler, the Progressive Conservative MLA from Madawaska-la-Vallée defeated Burt Paulin, the Liberal MLA from Restigouche West.
| 2006 New Brunswick election: Restigouche-la-Vallée | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Percy Mockler* | 3835 | 53.0% | * | |
| Liberal | Burt Walter Paulin* | 2806 | 38.8% | * | |
| New Democratic | Alain Martel | 599 | 8.3% | * | |
| Prog. Con. hold/gain*. | Majority | 1019 | 14.2% | ||
* This was the first election in which the district was contested. It resulted from a merger of two districts, one of which had previously voted Progressive Conservative, electing Mockler, and one of which had previously voted Liberal, electing Paulin. Vote totals cannot be reasonably compared with those of the previous election.
On December 18, 2008, Percy Mockler was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper. As a result, a by-election was to be called no later than May 2009.
Premier of New Brunswick Shawn Graham called the by-election on February 6, 2009, and the vote was held March 9, 2009.[1] The Progressive Conservative candidate was Jean-Paul Soucy, the only one to come forward and a former aide to Mockler, and the Liberal candidate was former Restigouche West MLA Burt Paulin.[2] The NDP candidate was Alain Martel.[3]
One local campaign issue concerned whether and how much government should support the forestry company J. D. Irving. Former PC leader and nearby MLA Jeannot Volpé criticized the Liberal government for being too supportive of the company, which is a major employer in the riding of Restigouche-La Vallée. Conservative candidate Jean-Paul Soucy indicated that he disagreed with Volpé's position, while Liberal candidate Burt Paulin said he was surprised that Volpé would criticize one of the largest employers in the region.[4]
| 2009 by-election: Restigouche-la-Vallée | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Burt Paulin | 3196 | 53.3% | +14.5% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Jean-Paul Soucy | 2289 | 38.2% | -14.8% | |
| New Democratic | Alain Martel | 511 | 8.5% | +0.2% | |
| Liberal gain. | Majority | 907 | 15.1% | ||
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