Liberal Party of New Brunswick
The New Brunswick Liberal Association (NBLA) is a political party in New Brunswick, Canada. The party descended from the Anti-Confederation Party, and emerged in the 1880s and 1890s to serve as an organization housing the supporters of Premier Andrew G. Blair and federal Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier.
Prior to Canadian confederation, advocates of responsible government ran under the labels Reform or Liberal, while opponents of responsible government were known as Conservatives. With the debates over confederation in the 1860s, the party lines which had emerged blurred as Reformers split along pro and anti-Confederation lines, resulting in Confederation and Anti-Confederation Parties.
Following 1867, supporters of Confederation generally became known as Liberal-Conservatives, or just Conservatives. Those who had been against confederation regrouped loosely as Liberals, but did not become a coherent party until Andrew Blair, as leader of the opposition in New Brunswick, forged members of the parliamentary opposition into what became the New Bunswick Liberal Party.
Unlike its sister organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, the NBLA serves both the federal Liberal party and acts as the provincial party.
Thus, its leader acts only in the provincial capacity, but the party executive organizes for both provincial and federal election campaigns.
The New Brunswick Liberal Party is one of two major political parties in the province. The other is the Progressive Conservatives.
During the 1960s, the Liberals under Louis Joseph Robichaud were instrumental in bringing Acadians into the mainstream of life in New Brunswick, declaring the province to be officially bilingual. The English and French languages were given equal status.
The most successful Liberal leader of recent times has been Frank McKenna, who led the party to a complete shut out of the other parties in 1987, winning every seat in the provincial legislature. McKenna served as Premier for ten years.
Shawn Graham has been the leader of the party since May 11, 2002, and it currently holds 25 of 55 seats in the New Brunswick legislature.
Its federal wing boasts 6 of the 10 MPs in the province, including two cabinet ministers: Labour Minister Claudette Bradshaw and Minister responsible for Infrastructure Andy Scott.
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