LeBlanc retains Beausejour with sizable win
Published Wednesday October 15th, 2008
Results Conservative veteran Omer Leger unable to break Liberal stronghold
SHEDIAC - Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc retained his seat in the riding of Beauséjour Tuesday night, with a sizable victory over his nearest opponent - Conservative Omer Leger.
As of press time, LeBlanc, who was first elected in 2000, had a 6,000 vote lead with a number of polls left to be reported.
Leger, a Conservative war-horse who served in the cabinet of Premier Richard Hatfield during the 1970s and '80s, was second - with another solid showing in his second run at LeBlanc.
But clearly the night belonged to LeBlanc, who most recently served as the Liberal Opposition's justice and intergovernmental affairs critic.
"I'm very grateful to the people of Beauséjour, who've given me another opportunity to represent them in the House of Commons," he told the Telegraph-Journal before celebrating with supporters in Shediac.
"It was a very good campaign. I'm obviously very interested to see the results from the rest of the country," he continued, with his wife - Jolène Richard - by his side.
LeBlanc, a lawyer who studied at both the University of New Brunswick and Harvard Law School, said his priority in the new parliament is the economy.
"I think the Liberal party has to get back to work right away to deal with people's anxieties about their jobs and their pensions. For me that remains the priority and I intend to start working tomorrow."
The race marked the second straight election where LeBlanc was challenged by Leger for the Beauséjour seat, a Liberal stronghold that extends from the Nova Scotia border up past Richibucto on New Brunswick's east coast.
Leger, 77, was once again at a large disadvantage. The riding hasn't elected a Conservative in 78 years.
"I'm disappointed," Leger said.
"It's nothing new that a Liberal wins here. It's a Liberal riding."
Leger said the loss will end his political career.
He was first elected provincially in 1971, in the riding of Kent, to replace former Premier Louis J. Robichaud. He served in cabinet until the 1987 election when the Frank McKenna Liberals swept every seat in the legislature.
"For sure, it's my last campaign," he said, noting his congratulations for LeBlanc.
LeBlanc, a big supporter of Liberal leader Stephane Dion, maintained his grip on the riding despite Dion's main election plank - a carbon tax.
The so-called Green Shift plan proved unpopular in Atlantic Canada.
NDP candidate Chris Durrant, a student at Mount Allison University in Sackville, was running third in the riding.
Michael Milligan, a motorcycle mechanic and uranium mining activist turned Green Party candidate, was fourth.
Back in 2006, LeBlanc received 22,012 votes, worth 47.6 per cent of those cast. Leger nabbed 14,919 votes, or 32.2 per cent. Candidates for the Green Party, NDP, and an independent candidate, shared the remaining 9,000 or so votes.
Election talk in Beauséjour - a large, rural riding - centred partly on the future of three Employment Insurance pilot projects. All four candidates pledged, if elected, to make the temporary programs permanent.
The pilot programs allow seasonal workers to work longer periods without having their E.I. claims penalized. They also allow companies to extend their production seasons, giving more employment to workers. The programs were initially only temporary, but have been extended twice, leaving seasonal workers and employers in the Beauséjour riding wondering about their fate.
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