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Rothesay NB byelection
May 25, 2012 - 11:40am
A byelection just got called in the suburban Saint John riding of Rothesay. It ought to be a super-safe Tory seat.
There is some possibility that NB NDP leader Dominic Cardy will run there to gain some profile and double or triple or quadruple the 8% the NDP got there in the 2010 election.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/25/nb-rothesay...
One of the people seeking the nomination for the PCs is a relatively recent graduate of UNB Saint John.
The NDP have already sent me 2 emails looking for donations for this campaign. I am waiting to see who the NDP candidate turns out to be. The Libs are still leaderless.
New Democratic Party Leader Dominic Cardy will run in next month's Rothesay byelection in the hope of winning the party's first seat in the legislature since 2005.
"The main reason is, as leader of the New Democrats, we have to show that we're ready to win seats across New Brunswick," he told CBC News.
Cardy will officially announce Friday that he will seek the seat left empty by Progressive Conservative Margaret-Ann Blaney, who resigned as MLA earlier this month.
The byelection will be held on June 25.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/31/nb-cardy-ru...
The Leader is running, is that enough to get you to donate?
Huge news. This will be a very interesting race to be sure!
I'll be writing a cheque this weekend Webby66.
Today Rothesay, tomorrow...THE WORLD!
Excellent
4:45
wow, I hadn't seen that before. Thats a very solid endorsement of the work Cardy has done.
Cardy had endorsed Mulcair, previously.
The PCs nominated Hugh John Flemming III, grandson and great grandson of premiers, and son of a former Classics professor of mine. Cardy was campaiging in Rothesay all weekend despite the nomination meeting not having taken place yet. We'll see how this race plays out.
I assume the NDP nomination will be an acclamation...
It would be amazing if it was not. Does the NDP having any members in Rothesay? 8^))
https://twitter.com/poitrasCBC/status/209985716309082112
Interesting, not that the PANB would get many votes, but it will force the "protest" votes to stay home or vote otherwise.
A right wing part leader endorsing an NDP candidate. Shudder.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/05/nb-cardy-au...
AS far as i know PANB was a virtually dead party anyways. They got 1% of the vote in the last election and have been going downhill ever since. That being said, its good publicity and the coverage of this otherwise worthless endorsement makes it sudden;y valuable in that Cardy dominates another news cycle.
link
link 2
ETA: link 3
Cardy on the stump
And around the province
Finance Minister Blaine Higgs repeatedly refused to endorse Premier David Alward's decision to appoint Margaret-Ann Blaney as the new president of Efficiency New Brunswick.
The Alward Tories have come under fire in recent weeks about Blaney's appointment, which has been blasted as patronage by the Opposition Liberals.
Higgs, who has earned a reputation as a straight-talking cabinet minister, refused to support Blaney's appointment in question period on Wednesday.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/06/nb-higgs-boudreau-blaney-137.html
Another prominent Progressive Conservative is refusing to endorse the appointment of Margaret-Ann Blaney as the new president of Efficiency New Brunswick.
Hugh John (Ted) Flemming III, the Tory candidate in the upcoming Rothesay byelection to replace Blaney, won't say what he thinks of the controversial decision.
"I wasn't there," he told CBC News.
"I support the merit system. That's what I support. That's the only business I know. That's the only system I know."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/06/nb-blaney-p...
New Brunswick New Democrat Leader and candidate in the by-election in Rothesay, Dominic Cardy announced if elected to the legislature he will introduce the Rothesay Charter to End Patronage.
"For 150 years, New Brunswick has suffered from a culture of political patronage that has undermined our economy and weakened our province," said Cardy.
"On my first day in the legislature I will take the Charter to the Liberals and Conservatives and ask them to support it. If they refuse, they can spend the next two years explaining why they refuse to take action," said Cardy.
The charter will include a ban to hiring based on political affiliation, with the exception of employees directly employed by elected officials. It would also include new rules for hiring CEOs of Crown Corporations, that would require a impartial hiring process controlled by an independent third party.
http://www.nbndp.ca/node/640Blaine Higgs appeared alongside Premier David Alward on Thursday afternoon but the finance minister still would not say whether he supports the government's decision to appoint Margaret-Ann Blaney as president of Efficiency New Brunswick.
Higgs has repeatedly said he respects Alward's role in making the appointment of Blaney, but he has not said whether he supports the decision.
Higgs was asked repeatedly in question period on Wednesday - when Alward was out of the province attending a Council of Atlantic Premiers meeting - about Blaney's appointment.
The finance minister's consistently said he supported Alward's authority to make the decision, but he did not say whether he supported it.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/08/nb-alward-h...
From an email I just received:
The Dominic Cardy for Rothesay Campaign is pleased to invite all New Brunswick New Democrat members and supporters to attend the Rally for Rothesay with our federal leader, Thomas Mulcair, THIS SUNDAY (June 10th) at 1pm at the Bill McGuire Memorial Centre in Rothesay.
People's Alliance of New Brunswick explain more of their reasoning behind endorsing Cardy
Tom Mulcair blasts fracking plans in New Brunswick
Federal NDP leader stumps for Dominic Cardy in Rothesay byelection
I posted this on a fracking action list:
This is excellent.
And I want to point out what Mulcair and Cardy and the NBNDP are doing in giving
pride of place to fracking here. I think this is a big deal.
Read the article, and headline aside, Cardy is pushing mostly the patronage
issue. Thats the big deal as far as political capital and this race goes.
I know Dominic Cardy, and he is in this to win.... it not being a likely NDP
seat notwithsanding, and the NBNDP having chronicaly low horizons.
They chose to use the opportunity of Mulcair's visit- guarantedd media hits- to
give fracking high billing.
That is testimony both to the importance of the issue in NB, and that Cardy sees
this as a winning issue for the NDP to give top billing to. Bear in mind,
distant third place parties only get a very limited number of issues they can
EFFECTIVELY profile.
And Cardy is saying this is one of them.
Good news.
Hopefully Cardy loses. He substantially agrees with Premier Alward that eliminating the NB deficit is job #1. Alward is known to have taken a "balanced approach" to eliminating the NB deficit, which is set to cross zero in 2014 one year after the NS NDP is pledging 'balance'. Cardy is at best a "business-Dipper" and is inauthentic as a leader of a left protest. The People's Alliance of New Brunswick by lending their support to Cardy, have destroyed their own ability to petition the governing PCs or consult the opposition Liberals on the issues which are important to them, a waste of their organization's potential in New Brunswick.
Cardy is playing a long-game of campaigning against the Alward government to raise his/NDP fortunes in a future election. It would just be a mistake if New Brunswickers believe that Cardy is a vehicle for left protest on any particular issue.
So you don't think opposing shale gas fracking and wanting to end patronage matter?
Pam Schicilone (sp) who ran for the NDP in the last election has endorsed the PC candidate ted Flemming. I'll try to find a link later.
I love this quote "and is inauthentic as a leader of a left protest"
Guess what, we're not just a protest party for the far left nutters to play with anymore.
Found this and this too. Not bad for a riding where the New Brunswick NDP got 8% just two years ago.
Does Cardy have a real chance? I don't know the riding but I understand that the town of Rothesay is quite wealthy. Not typically fertile NDP turf, even if Cardy's a blue dipper.