Mel Norton adds name to list of PC leadership candidates

With just days to go before the end of his term as Saint John's mayor, Mel Norton has jumped into the race to become leader of New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative Party.

And Norton did it with a show of strength, packing about 300 people into a hotel meeting room to hear him declare he wants to lead a "renaissance" in the province.

That's the same buzzword Norton used frequently as mayor, and he's basing his campaign, in part, on his four-year record running the city.

"The foundation of leadership is working together, developing a common vision and working together to put that vision in place," he told reporters. "And those are the same qualities, whether it's as a member of a municipal council, or whether it's in a premier's office."

But Norton also acknowledged he needs to be known as more than just the mayor of the province's largest city.

Asked what experience he lacks or needs to work on, he said he wants to keep improving his French skills and continue meeting "people who wouldn't necessarily have known me or known what I was about."

He told reporters it was no accident he had spent most of his pre-launch campaigning over the last two months in northern New Brunswick "to ensure I have the best possible perspective of what's happening throughout the province."

"It's easy to get isolated in one part of the province, or one corner of the province, and not have a full spectrum, a full understanding of what people are thinking and what really is important to the different regions."

Norton joins 4 others

Norton is the fifth candidate to enter the leadership race after PC MLAs Brian Macdonald and Blaine Higgs, former Conservative MP Mike Allen, and Moncton lawyer Monica Barley.

Like Barley at her launch on April 15, Norton's speech contained lofty phrases about uniting and empowering New Brunswickers while lacking policy specifics.

But unlike Barley, Norton can point to four years as mayor, winning over the votes of municipal councillors and overseeing the administration of Saint John.

Saint John Portland MLA Trevor Holder says Norton's tenure combined a positive message of confidence in the city with concrete results, such as approval of a new municipal water system and a fix for the city's employee pension plan.

"This is a mayor that got results," Holder said. "There are countless other examples of how this mayor brought confidence and pride, and delivered results for the people of Saint John."

He said Norton was also an effective communicator, who made city residents feel good about themselves.

"I can't remember a leader with the balance of charisma and substance that Mel Norton has," he said. "I believe we'll be sitting here six years from now with that same confidence province-wide."

At the same time, long-time PC insider Hermel Vienneau, who is from the Bathurst area, said Norton has the potential to win support in francophone northern New Brunswick.

Vienneau pointed out Norton grew up on Grand Manan Island, where the remote rural lifestyle and economy based on fishing and tourism are similar to the province's north.

"So we share a lot and we have a lot in common," he said. "He knows by heart what our issues are."

Supports official bilingualism

In his speech, Norton said he supports official bilingualism, an issue that has been hanging over the leadership race.

At his launch last month, Allen said he supported the law but wanted a "common sense" approach to how it's implemented for ambulance paramedics and commissionaires.

Norton said Wednesday that "our constitutional commitments to the people of New Brunswick and staunch support for our two official languages" are values that are "universal" in the province.

He wouldn't comment on the issue of dual school busing. Like most other leadership candidates, he pointed out the New Brunswick Court of Appeal is hearing a constitutional reference case on whether two bus systems are required by law.

But Norton said he believes the split in the province is more rural-urban than English-French.

On abortion, he said he had "no interest in revisiting past decisions," like the Gallant government's decision to repeal the two-doctor rule on access to hospital abortions.

Echoing the PC campaign slogan in 2014, Norton said we "have to say 'yes' to all resource development," but said "the window of time for development" of shale gas may be closed.

As mayor, Norton strongly supported shale gas in the 2014 election, prompting Liberals to taunt him via social media on whether Saint John would accept wastewater from fracking.

Norton said again Wednesday that the question is hypothetical because of the Liberal moratorium