N.B. election sees 8 female MLAs elected in 49 ridings
CBC News | Posted: September 23, 2014 6:04 AM | Last Updated: September 23, 2014
Last legislative assembly had 8 women sitting in 55 ridings
New Brunswick has eight female MLAs in the province's newly distributed 49 ridings, following Monday night's provincial election.
That represents about 16 per cent of the legislative assembly.
The province's last sitting legislative assembly, elected in 2010, also had eight female MLAs but out of 55 ridings, or about 14.5 per cent, earning New Brunswick the dubious honour of having the fewest female MLAs in the country. Former energy minister Margaret-Ann Blaney subsequently resigned her Rothesay seat in May 2012 to become chief executive officer of Efficiency New Brunswick.
The eight newly elected women are evenly split between the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives.
In the Moncton area, three of the five MLAs are women.
The Liberals and Tories each had 13 women running across the province.
2 cabinet ministers unseated
Tory Madeleine Dubé, who was the minister of social development before the legislative assembly was dissolved on Aug. 21, managed to hold on to her seat in Edmundston Madawaska Centre.
Dorothy Shephard, who was the minister of healthy and inclusive communities, also claimed victory in her riding of Saint John Lancaster.
MLAs Pam Lynch and Sherry Wilson were also re-elected, in Fredericton-Grand Lake and Moncton Southwest, respectively.
Marie-Claude Blais, the former minister of education and early childhood development and minister responsible for women's equality, was unseated in Moncton Centre.
Sue Stultz, the former minister of government services, responsible for Service New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Internal Services Agency, was also unseated, in Moncton South.
Tory MLA Martine Coulombe lost in her bid to be re-elected in her riding of Restigouche West.
The successful Liberal female candidates include:
- Lisa Harris in Miramichi Bay-Neguac.
- Francine Landry in Madawaska Les Lacs-Edmundston.
- Monique Leblanc from Moncton East.
- Cathy Rogers from Moncton-South.
The NDP had 14 women vying for seats in the election. None were successful.
Of the Green Party's 36 candidates, 19 were women, and the People's Alliance had five female candidates out of 15, but none of them managed to win.
Gretchen Kelbaugh, a filmmaker who has documented the lack of women in politics, has previously suggested it may be time to impose a quota system to ensure more women run.
Such systems are already in place in Germany, Norway and Switzerland, she said.
| Riding | Candidate | Party | Elected |
| Restigouche West | Martine Coulombe | PC | N |
| Campbellton-Dalhouse | Heather Wood | Green | N |
| Restigouche-Chaleur | Gilberte Boudreau | PC | N |
| Bathurst West-Beresford | Anne Bard-Lavigne | PC | N |
| Bathurst West-Beresford | Catherine Doucet | Green | N |
| Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Caraquet | Suzanne Morais-Vienneau | PC | N |
| Caraquet | Sophie Chiasson-Gould | Green | N |
| Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou | Juliette Paulin | NDP | N |
| Tracadie-Sheila | Nancy Benoit | Green | N |
| Miramichi Bay-Neguac | Lisa Harris | Liberal | Y |
| Miramichi | Patty Deitch | Green | N |
| Southwest Miramichi-Bay du Vin | Norma Smith | Liberal | N |
| Kent North | Nancy Blanchard | PC | N |
| Kent North | Rébeka Frazer-Chiasson | Green | N |
| Kent North | Raven-Chanelle Arsenault-Augustine | People's Alliance | N |
| Kent South | Tina Beers | Green | N |
| Shediac Bay-Dieppe | Dolorès Poirier | PC | N |
| Shediac Bay-Dieppe | Agathe Lapointe | NDP | N |
| Shediac Bay-Dieppe | Stephanie Matthews | Green | N |
| Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap-Pelé | Carmel Brun | PC | N |
| Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap-Pelé | Bernice Boudreau | NDP | N |
| Memramcook-Tantramar | Hélène Boudreau | NDP | N |
| Memramcook-Tantramar | Megan Mitton | Green | N |
| Dieppe | Sandy Harquail | NDP | N |
| Dieppe | Françoise Aubin | Green | N |
| Moncton East | Jane Mitton-MacLean | PC | N |
| Moncton East | Monique LeBlanc | Liberal | Y |
| Moncton Centre | Marie-Claude Blais | PC | N |
| Moncton-South | Sue Stultz | PC | N |
| Moncton-South | Cathy Rogers | Liberal | Y |
| Moncton-South | Elisabeth French | NDP | N |
| Moncton-South | Rish McGlynn | Green | N |
| Moncton Northwest | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Moncton Southwest | Sherry Wilson | PC | Y |
| Moncton Southwest | Lucy Goguen | People's Alliance | N |
| Riverview | Tammy Rampersaud | Liberal | N |
| Riverview | Danie Pitre | NDP | N |
| Riverview | Linda Hardwick | Green | N |
| Albert | Kelly-Sue O'Connor | NDP | N |
| Gagetown-Petitcodiac | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins | Heike MacGregor | Liberal | N |
| Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins | Stephanie Coburn | Green | N |
| Hampton | Joan Seeley | People's Alliance | N |
| Quispamsis | Mary Schryer | Liberal | N |
| Quispamsis | Angela-Jo (AJ) Griffin | NDP | N |
| Rothesay | Stephanie Tomilson | Liberal | N |
| Rothesay | Ann McAllister | Green | N |
| Saint John East | Sharon Murphy | Green | N |
| Portland-Simonds | Sheila Croteau | Green | N |
| Saint John Harbour | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Saint John Lancaster | Dorothy Shephard | PC | Y |
| Saint John Lancaster | Ashley Durdle | Green | N |
| Saint John Lancaster | Mary Ellen Carpenter | Independent | N |
| Kings Centre | Shannon Merrifield | Liberal | N |
| Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West | Terry James | NDP | N |
| Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West | Krysta Oland | Green | N |
| Charlotte-Campobello | June Greenlaw | NDP | N |
| Charlotte-Campobello | Joyce Wright | People's Alliance | N |
| Oromocoto-Lincoln | Trisha Hoyt | Liberal | N |
| Oromocoto-Lincoln | Amanda Diggins | NDP | N |
| Fredericton-Grand Lake | Pam Lynch | PC | Y |
| Fredericton-Grand Lake | Sheri Shannon | Liberal | N |
| Fredericton-Grand Lake | Bronwen Mosher | NDP | N |
| New Maryland-Sunbury | Aimée Foreman | NDP | N |
| New Maryland-Sunbury | Kelsey Adams | Green | N |
| Fredericton South | Courtney Mills | Independent | N |
| Fredericton North | Madeleine Berrevoets | Green | N |
| Fredericton North | Patricia Wilkins | People's Alliance | N |
| Fredericton-York | Sharon Scott-Levesque | NDP | N |
| Fredericton-York | Dorothy Diamond | Green | N |
| Fredericton West-Hanwell | Bernadine Gibson | Liberal | N |
| Fredericton West-Hanwell | Gayla MacIntosh | Green | N |
| Carleton-York | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Carleton | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Carleton-Victoria | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Victoria-La Vallée | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Edmundston-Madawaska Centre | Madeleine (Mado) Dubé | PC | Y |
| Madawaska Les Lacs-Edmundston | Francine Landry | Liberal | Y |