Former PC leadership hopeful linked to 'leaked' document after squeaker election

Five days in late June have been set aside for the final phase of the court challenge over the outcome of provincial election results in the riding of Saint John Harbour.

Liberal Gerry Lowe won the riding by just 10 votes over Progressive Conservative candidate Barry Ogden.

Within weeks of the Sept. 24 contest the PCs went to court to request a new election in the riding, alleging electoral procedures were not properly followed during voting.

On Thursday the court heard from PC volunteer David Keirstead about an affidavit he filed with the court in which he alleged six people were allowed to vote without proper identification, that at least 24 people may have voted twice, and that 34 people not originally on the electors list accessed ballots after filling out the wrong form.

Keirstead acted as a scrutineer for the PCs at advance polls and on election day.

He agreed under questioning by the Liberal Party's lawyer, Thomas O'Neil, that he attributed the alleged problems to Elections New Brunswick staff and not to Lowe or anyone acting on his behalf.

In his testimony, Keirstead surprised many in the court by revealing that former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Mel Norton gave him a document that was earlier alleged to have been "leaked" to the Ogden team.

The document belonged to Elections New Brunswick and caused a stir in November when it was included in documents filed with the court by the PCs.

Keirstead was asked how he came to possess the document, which was described in court in November as containing "privileged" notes prepared by a returning officer for the Elections New Brunswick legal team and marked "prepared for use by ENB solicitor" at the bottom of each page.

He told the court it was given to him by Norton at the Lawson Creamer law office the former mayor shares with Ogden's lawyer, Kelly VanBuskirk.

In November 2016, Norton lost a bid for the provincial party leadership to Blaine Higgs, who is now the premier.  

Responding to a request for comment, Norton, who is also a former mayor of Saint John said: "How the document came into our firm's possession is solicitor-client."

On leaving court Thursday, Lowe was asked about the document having been handed to Keirstead by Norton.

"I have thought all along that there was more to this than meets the eye and I guess today proves that," Lowe said.

Ogden's lawyer, VanBuskirk, told reporters he did not know how the document came into Norton's possession.

Because of scheduling conflicts and further documents to be filed, the case will not return to court until the week of June 24.

Justice Hugh McLellan appeared frustrated at the amount of time the case was taking.

"I want to get this done," he said.