Not every riding in New Brunswick has more than one truly standout candidate; but Campbellton-Dalhousie has three! Though it is a newly-minted-merged-riding, there is only one incumbent fighting for it. Prior to the amalgamation, one half of the riding was represented by Liberal Don Arsenault and the other by Progressive Conservative Greg Davis. Davis is not seeking re-election in the riding so the PC nomination will move to Joe Elias.
Donald Arsenault has a shockingly impressive profile. Despite being one of the youngest members of the legislature he has served as critic of the Office of Human Resources and the Department of Intergovernmental and International Relations. He later served as critic of tourism in 2005. When his party formed government Donald was made Minister of Natural Resources. Then, when Kelly Lamrock upset the entire city of Saint John and the education sector; Arsenault was made Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour (to clean up Lamrock’s mess). As far as education goes; Arsenault has a long series of degrees, certificates, and diplomas in the fields of buisness, finance, and economics. This guy is a force to be reckoned with.
Not to be outdone, the New Democrats offer up Jamie O’Rourke. O’Rourke comes from a very political family (his mother used to work in the department of finance and his father was a deputy minister in the 1980’s). O’Rourke received an education from NBCC in farming and economics. He then went on to study at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. O’Rourke also gives much of his time to a number of charitable causes including: Elementary Literacy Inc, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Community Inclusion Network, and many environmental committees and groups. O’Rourke is also credited with helping in the design and drafted of some key NDP policies.
The third of the sterling candidates is Progressive Conservative Joe Elias. He comes from a family with a successful business background (they ran the Elias Store for 40 years in Campbellton). He received an education from Polyvalente Roland Pepin, Dalhousie University, Universite de Moncton, and the University of Ottawa.
The Green Party is also running in the riding. Heather Wood, who has no profile on the Green Party site, Linked In, and has received virtually no coverage from any major media outlets, is the candidate. Sadly, it would appear that she is the Green Party’s “lame duck” candidate. She’s running just to drum up support in the region for the next election.
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