Higgs calls 3 byelections in former Liberal ridings for April 24
New Brunswickers in three vacant provincial ridings will elect new MLAs on April 24.
Premier Blaine Higgs set the date Thursday morning, opening the door for Liberal Leader Susan Holt to win a seat in the legislature.
Holt became leader of the party last August but is not an elected member.
She plans to run in Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore, a riding held by longtime Liberal MLA Denis Landry until his retirement last year.
"We're excited and ready to go. I'm pleased that Premier Higgs has finally set a date," Holt said.
Higgs told reporters his Progressive Conservative party will not run a candidate against Holt.
"We think that it's important that Ms. Holt have a chance to come into the [legislature], and it's important to have her views shared directly and [have] an opportunity to debate that back and forth as opposed to being on the sidelines."
He said the decision wasn't because the party couldn't find a candidate in the Bathurst-area riding.
The other vacancies are in Restigouche-Chaleur and Dieppe, two other seats that saw veteran Liberals leave last fall.
The PCs will run candidates there even though Higgs acknowledged their chances may be slim.
"I guess I'm not counting on the numbers being increased dramatically in the house for us as as a result of history," he said.
"But … I would encourage the people in these byelections, in the ridings, to look at where the province is, where it's moving, and try to separate the rhetoric from the facts."
The PCs have yet to nominate any candidates for the byelections.
Green Leader David Coon said his party will contest all three races.
"This is democracy," he said. "We will be running candidates in all three ridings, yes. Every one of those three ridings will have a Green candidate."
Former Petit-Rocher mayor Rachel Boudreau, a nurse, has been nominated for the Greens in Restigouche-Chaleur.
"She is incredible," Coon said. "She would an excellent MLA for Restigouche-Chaleur."
In Dieppe, the Liberals have nominated former Medavie Health Services New Brunswick CEO Richard Losier, who was at the legislature with Holt Thursday morning.
Losier is a former nurse, union representative and health care administrator with the Dr. Georges-L. Dumont Hospital in Moncton and the Vitalité health network.
He said voters in Dieppe have been waiting for a new MLA since October. "It's about time and we're very excited."
Liberal members in Restigouche-Chaleur will nominate their candidate on Sunday.
There are 29 Progressive Conservative MLAs in the legislature now, 13 Liberals, three Greens and one Independent, former PC education minister Dominic Cardy.
