The New Democratic Party of New Brunswick is struggling to stay above water. Leader Jennifer McKenzie was acclaimed leader without opposition but not because there was no opposition to her being leader; but rather because nobody else wanted the job. Former leader Dominic Cardy carved up the party and left deep divisions and high debts.
The election campaign has not begun officially yet, but the other parties are hard at work nominating candidates across the province. Unsurprisingly, the nominations for Liberals and Progressive Conservatives are nearly full. The Green Party and People’s Alliance are also busy putting names to paper. The NDP however is lagging far behind with only 7 out of 49 nominations. The NDP is ahead of only Keep It Simple Solutions in terms of nominations.
Early polling for the party is not good either. The party polled lower in March than at the time of the previous election which saw them win no seats. They are still polling higher than the Greens, PANB, and KISS which might be their only silver lining. Those polls put the Liberal Party in a distant lead over McKenzie’s fledgling party.
McKenzie’s greatest hope of gaining any seat in the upcoming election was an obvious decision, one which Cardy lacked the foresight to consider. She decided to run in the one riding which actually sent a New Democrat to the legislature in recent years; Saint John Harbour. However, McKenzie’s trump card may be misplaced as Saint John Harbour is set to be one of the most hotly contested races in 2018. The Greens put forward stalwart Wayne Dryer. Also, popular former teacher Barry Ogden announced his intention to seek the nomination of the Progressive Conservative Party. The Liberals won the riding in 2014 by only 71 votes.
With no money, few candidates, and relatively zero news coverage, it would appear to be a very bad year for McKenzie to fight an election. It is crucial that the NDP reach out to potential voters this summer in a blitz of community barbeques and meet and greets. The riding associations need to formulate a plan to balance their books and appeal to favorable candidates before it’s too late. If McKenzie isn’t able to turn some numbers around, it could spell the end of the New Brunswick New Democrats.
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