The 1999 New Brunswick general election was held on June 7, 1999, to elect the 55 members of the 54th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly.
Campaign The election 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.
Thériault's Liberals were widely expected to win a fourth majority government from the outset of the campaign, with opinion polls showing them leading by double-digits. However, the PCs were able to capitalize on the issue of highway tolls and use it to portray the Liberals as arrogant. Lord made the tolls an effective wedge issue, saying they were unfair to people who lived near the toll booths and had to drive through them daily. Lord then pledged to implement 20 of his key promises in his first 200 days in office, styled as "200 Days of Change", a message 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 widely 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 PCs also won the majority of Acadian seats, something the party had struggled to do in the past.
At 80% of the legislature, Lord's 44-seat landslide victory was viewed as remarkable by all parties. Thériault, who came off in the campaign as cold and uncharismatic, delivered 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". Furthermore, Lord's massive victory had a coattail effect that resulted in the defeat of many Liberals who had been viewed by pundits as undefeatable.
Opinion polls + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source NBPC NBLA NBNDP CoR Other SampleElection 1999June 7, 199953.037.38.80.70.2OmnifactsJune 199949407LégerMay 26, 1999334615OmnifactsMay 19994639131.5OmnifactsMay 19994537131Baseline Market ResearchMay 199936.846.714.91.6May 11, 19993351106Corporate Research AssociatesMarch 199928518Baseline Market ResearchJanuary 13, 19993251143Corporate Research AssociatesNovember 30, 1998255113Corporate Research AssociatesAugust 24, 1998205614Corporate Research AssociatesJune 1998214919Corporate Research AssociatesFebruary 24, 1998304320Election 1995September 11, 199530.8751.639.657.110.75 Riding-specific polls Moncton East by-election + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source NBPC NBLA NBNDP CoR SampleBy-election 1998October 19, 199850.9339.739.34—SES Canada ResearchOctober 14, 1998494011Election 1995September 11, 199518.0261.8011.828.36
Summary of results
PartyParty Leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular Vote1995DissolutionElected% Change#%ChangeProgressive ConservativeBernard Lord556944+289%209,00853.0%+22.1%Liberal Camille Theriault55484510-77%146,93437.3%-14.3%New DemocraticElizabeth Weir55111-34,5268.8%-0.9%Jim Webb18----2,8070.7%-6.4%Natural LawChristopher Collrin9----5270.1%-0.2%Independentsn/a4----4350.1%-0.3%Total196555555-394,237100%+1.2%
Narrow wins and losses
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.
RidingWinnerSecond PlaceMarginDieppe-Memramcook Cy LeBlanc Greg O'Donnell4.4%Fredericton NorthD. Peter ForbesBrad Woodside4.4%Fredericton-Fort NashwaakEric MacKenzieGreg Byrne4.1%Fundy IslesEric AllabyEd Brine2.2%Grand Falls RegionJean-Guy LaforestMarcel Deschênes5.8%Grand LakeDavid JordanDoug Tyler6.9%Kent SouthCamille ThériaultJean-Noel Allain7.4%NepisiguitJoel BernardAlban Landry4.7%Nigadoo-ChaleurRoland HachéHermel Vienneau7.5%Restigouche WestBenoit CyrJean-Paul Savoie3.7%Rogersville-KouchibouguacRose-May PoirierMaurice Richard1.8%Saint John ChamplainCarole KeddyRoly MacIntyre2.2%Victoria-TobiqueLarry KennedyCarman Pirie5.8%Western CharlotteTony HuntjensPeter Heelis6.1%
Candidates Party leaders and cabinet ministers are denoted in bold.
Northern New Brunswick
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|1. Restigouche West | |Jean-Paul Savoie 3,328 || |Benoît Cyr 3,592 | |Rose Duguay 255
|Jean-Paul Savoie |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|2. Campbellton || |Edmond Blanchard 4,321 | |Pierre F. Dubé 2,569 | |Johanne Parent 295
|Edmond Blanchard |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|3. Dalhousie-Restigouche East | |Carolle de Ste. Croix 2,830 || |Dennis Furlong 5,148 | |Joel William Hickey 190 | |Francine Richard (NLP) withdrawn || |Carolle de Ste. Croix |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|4. Nigadoo-Chaleur || |Roland Haché 3,435 | |Hermel Vienneau 2,862 | |Raoul Charest 1,244 | |Gilles Godin (NLP) 106 || |Albert Doucet |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|5. Bathurst || |Marcelle Mersereau 3,418 | |Bob Stairs 2,427 | |Antoine Duguay 453
|Marcelle Mersereau |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|6. Nepisiguit | |Alban Landry 2,227 || |Joel Bernard 2,534 | |Gilles Halley 1,824
|Alban Landry |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|7. Caraquet || |Bernard Theriault 4,194 | |Gaston Moore 3,369 | |Denis Doiron 596
|Bernard Theriault |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|8. Lamèque-Shippagan-Miscou | |Jean-Camille DeGrâce 2,563 || |Paul Robichaud 5,910 | |Calixte Chaisson 368
|Jean-Camille DeGrâce |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|9. Centre-Péninsule | |Denis Landry 2,097 || |Louis-Philippe McGraw 3,045 | |Roger Duguay 955
|Denis Landry |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|10. Tracadie-Sheila | |Serge Rousselle 2,926 || |Elvy Robichaud 5,453 | |Claudette Duguay 285
|Elvy Robichaud
Eastern New Brunswick
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|11. Miramichi Bay | |Danny Gay 3,066 || |Réjean Savoie 4,014 | |Donald D. Doucet 365
|Danny Gay |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|12. Miramichi-Bay du Vin | |James Doyle 3,076 || |Michael Malley 5,393 | |John Gagnon 147
|James Doyle |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|13. Miramichi Centre | |John McKay 2,975 || |Kim Jardine 4,076 | |Terry Mullin 853
|John McKay |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|14. Southwest Miramichi | |Reg MacDonald 2,850 || |Norman Betts 4,019 | |Terry Carter 254
|Reg MacDonald |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|15. Rogersville-Kouchibouguac | |Maurice Richard 2,700 || |Rose-May Poirier 2,820 | |Maria Daigle 1,197
|Kenneth Johnson |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|16. Kent || |Shawn Graham 3,264 | |Valmond Daigle 2,471 | |Charles Richard 402 | |J.R. Beers (Ind) 103 || |Shawn Graham |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|17. Kent South || |Camille Thériault 4,546 | |Jean-Noël Allain 3,838 | |Collette Doucette 1,171
|Camille Thériault |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|18. Shediac-Cap-Pélé || |Bernard Richard 5,422 | |Odette Babineau 3,240 | |Anne Marie Dupuis 633
|Bernard Richard
Southeastern New Brunswick
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|19. Tantramar | |Kirk W. Meldrum 925 || |Peter Mesheau 3,311 | |Heather Patterson 990 | |Frank Comeau (Ind) 47 || |Peter Mesheau |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|20. Dieppe-Memramcook | |Greg O'Donnell 4,738 || |Cy LeBlanc 5,206 | |Marc LeBel 754
|Greg O'Donnell |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|21. Moncton East | |Kevin John Fram 2,046 || |Bernard Lord 5,248 | |Marc Robar 542 | |Laurent Maltais (NLP) 59 || |Bernard Lord |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|22. Moncton South | |James E. Lockyer 2,710 || |Joan MacAlpine 3,143 | |Theresa Sullivan 687
|James E. Lockyer |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|23. Moncton North | |Gene Devereux 2,304 || |René Landry 3,776 | |Nancy Hartling 1049 | |John Gallant (CoR) 103 || |Gene Devereux |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|24. Moncton Crescent | |Kenneth R. MacLeod 2,233 || |John Betts 4,825 | |Carl Fowler 699 | |Albert H. Wood (CoR) 85 || |Kenneth R. MacLeod |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|25. Petitcodiac | |Gary Stewart Armstrong 1,171 || |Wally Stiles 4,284 | |Blair McInnis 447 | |Donald R. Alward (CoR) 278 || |Hollis Steeves |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|26. Riverview | |Al J. Kavanaugh 2,151 || |Pat Crossman 4,439 | |Brad Smith 888 | |Shane Harvey (CoR) 137 Jamie Ed Borden (Ind) 81 || |Al J. Kavanaugh |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|27. Albert | |Harry Doyle 2,065 || |Wayne Steeves 3,633 | |Myrna Geldart 529 | |Dean Ryder (CoR) 136 || |Harry Doyle |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|28. Kings East | |LeRoy Armstrong 2,420 || |Doug Cosman 4,310 | |Jessica Coleman 354 | |Eldon MacKay (CoR) 109 || |LeRoy Armstrong
Greater Saint John & Fundy Coast
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|29. Hampton-Belleisle | |Georgie Day 2,628 || |Bev Harrison 4,551 | |Jocelyne Comeau 769
|Georgie Day |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|30. Kennebecasis | |Peter LeBlanc 2,388 || |Brenda Fowlie 4,070 | |Albert Charles Joseph Comeau 939 | |Greg Boyle (CoR) 192 || |Peter LeBlanc |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|31. Saint John-Fundy | |Stuart Jamieson 1,933 || |Rodney Weston 3,473 | |Robert E. Holmes-Lauder 494 | |David Lytle (CoR) 115 || |Stuart Jamieson |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|32. Saint John-Kings | |Zita Longobardi 1,752 || |Margaret-Ann Blaney 4,605 | |Ken Wilcox 664
|Laureen Jarrett |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|33. Saint John Champlain | |Roly MacIntyre 1,949 || |Carole Keddy 2,073 | |Dr. Paula C. Tippett 1,597 | |Dolores H. Cook (CoR) 98 Jeanne Geldart (NLP) 36 || |Roly MacIntyre |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|34. Saint John Harbour | |Mark Thomas McNulty 1,347 | |Tim Clarke 1,349 || |Elizabeth Weir 2,398 | |Thomas Mitchell (NLP) 54 || |Elizabeth Weir |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|35. Saint John Portland | |Leo McAdam 1,668 || |Trevor Holder 3,773 | |Pam F. Coates 844 | |Miville Couture (NLP) 45 || |Leo McAdam |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|36. Saint John Lancaster | |Jane Barry 2,190 || |Norm McFarlane 3,999 | |Bill Farren 945 | |Jim Webb (CoR) 154 Christopher B. Collrin (NLP) 96 || |Jane Barry |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|37. Grand Bay-Westfield | |Grace Losier 1,433 || |Milt Sherwood 3,546 | |Percy Ward 490 | |Colby Fraser (CoR) 240 || |Milt Sherwood |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|38. Charlotte || |Sheldon Lee 3,263 | |Sharon Tucker 2,071 | |Eugene A. Dugas 299
|Sheldon Lee |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|39. Fundy Isles || |Eric Allaby 1,248 | |Ed Brine 1,192 | |Bill Barteau 66
|Eric Allaby |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|40. Western Charlotte | |Peter Heelis 3,071 || |Tony Huntjens 3,490 | |Andrew Gordon Graham 283
|Ann Breault
Greater Fredericton
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|41. Oromocto-Gagetown | |Ron Lindala 2,059 || |Jody Carr 4,372 | |Terry John Hovey 283 | |Paul Pye (CoR) 151 || |Vaughn Blaney |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|42. Grand Lake | |Doug Tyler 3,245 || |David Charles Jordan 3,769 | |Phyllis MacLean 384 | |Murray C. Barton (CoR) 223 || |Doug Tyler |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|43. Fredericton North | |Brad Woodside 3,698 || |D. Peter Forbes 4,081 | |Todd Joseph Tingley 632 | |Ronald Bubar (CoR) 203 William Parker (NLP) 34 || |Jim Wilson |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|44. Fredericton-Fort Nashwaak | |Greg Byrne 2,685 || |Eric MacKenzie 2,949 | |Pat A. Kennedy 715 | |David Alexander Brown (CoR) 96 Andie Haché (NLP) 31 || |Greg Byrne |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|45. Fredericton South | |Lorraine Siliphant 2,510 || |Brad Green 4,070 | |Myrna Gunter 1,409 | |Michael McKay (NLP) 66 || |Brad Green |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|46. New Maryland | |Joan Kingston 3,077 || |Keith Ashfield 4,223 | |Carol E. Moore 441 | |George Rennick (CoR) 182 || |Joan Kingston |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|47. York | |John Flynn 3,783 || |Don Kinney 4,332 | |Josh Johnson 449 | |Malcolm MacNeil (CoR) 88 || |John Flynn |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|48. Mactaquac | |David Olmstead 2,385 || |Kirk MacDonald 4,405 | |Sandra Burtt 463 | |Wilmot F. Ross (CoR) 217 || |David Olmstead
Upper Saint John River Valley
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|49. Woodstock | |James W. Andow 1,989 || |David Alward 5,354 | |Sheila Moore 242
|Bruce Atherton Smith |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|50. Carleton | |David Harvey 3,240 || |Dale Graham 4,561 |