Fredericton-West Hanwell

Formed from two merged Fredericton ridings, Fredericton-West Hanwell is comprised of two PC held ridings. Large components of Fredericton-Silverwood and York are the basis for the new riding and provide a close race primarily between the Liberals and Conservatives, though there is a strong New Democrat component here as well. Given that people vote for leaders, and the NDP leader is running here; it could turn into an interesting threeway race.

Incumbent PC MLA Brian Macdonald is a veteran of the Canadian military and has been involved with several programs overseas. He was a policy advisor to Defence Minister Peter Mackay. He studied economics in England. Despite his impressive history, he has not yet been given a cabinet post by the premier.

NDP Leader Dominic Cardy will give it his all to win over the newborn riding. When Cardy took over the party in 2012, the party was in serious debt. Cardy balanced the books and modernized the party mechanics. He has worked with former US President Jimmy Carter to release underaged political prisoners in Bangladesh. He models his brand of social democracy in the form of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Liberal Bernadine Gibson is a healthcare worker who has concerns about the current system. She says she has studied the healthcare system of New Brunswick for twenty years and has ideas on how to fix it. Gibson says that NB lacks the services it needs, especially in the fields of senior care and mental health care.

Green Gayla MacIntosh is a self described ordinary person. She has been a tree planter for Natural Resources, a volunteer at her church, and a volunteer with Scouts. Her reasons for running is to see a more environmentally friendly government and a better tomorrow.

There is no People’s Alliance candidate running here.

Gallant’s $900 Million Idea

New Brunswickers have been weary of giving too much power or influence to New Democrats; Canada’s resident socialist party. Neither at the provincial nor the federal level has NB sent many NDP politicians to the capital for the fear that their socialist spending will break the back of the people who sent them there. But an interesting thing is happening in NB this year; those scary socialists are scaling back spending plans and being extra critical of other parties’ spending plans.

The party with the biggest spending plan thus far is without a doubt the New Brunswick Liberals. Brian Gallant has fired off a few big ideas with hefty price tags but none have received more criticism than his $900 million infrastructure plan. Job creation has been at the forefront of the big three parties’ stump speeches. Under Progressive Conservative rule, the unemployment has climbed to the highest it has been in years and naturally, the Liberals want credit for getting New Brunswick working again. But Gallant’s pricey plan has the other leaders asking where the money will be coming from. The plan will employ an additional 1700 New Brunswickers annually, asserts Gallant, but he has thus far failed to explain where that money will come from.

Dominic Cardy of the NDP has stated that New Brunswick just can’t afford that type of fiscal commitment. Cardy has taken the NDP on a different course than it has been in recent years. Cardy receives inspiration from the more fiscally conservative leadership of former Labour leader and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Though job creation is a necessity, says Cardy, it must be done responsibly. Cardy has a number of smaller plans to create jobs which will purportedly cost less for the province. He also plans to end big corporate tax cuts and “corporate welfare” but instead offers a fair tax break for companies who provide substantial job creation.

Gallant needs to explain whether he plans to pay for this considerable expense by cutting funding elsewhere or raising taxes on an already strained electorate.