Edwin G. "Ed" Allen was a New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick

The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick is located in Fredericton. It was established de jure when the colony was created in 1784, but only came in to session in 1786 following the first elections in late 1785. Until 1891, it was the lower house in a bicameral legislature when its upper house...

  from 1978

New Brunswick general election, 1978

The 29th New Brunswick general election was held on October 23, 1978, to elect 58 members to the 49th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Richard Hatfield's Progressive Conservative Party narrowly won its third term.In the lead up to...

 to 1987

New Brunswick general election, 1987

The 31st New Brunswick general election was held on October 13, 1987, to elect 58 members to the 51st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada...

 and again from 1991

New Brunswick general election, 1991

The 32nd New Brunswick general election was held on September 23, 1991, to elect 58 members to the 52nd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada....

 to 1995

New Brunswick general election, 1995

The 33rd New Brunswick general election was held on September 11, 1995, to elect 55 members to the 53rd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The election marked the debut of Bernard Valcourt as a provincial politician, and as leader of a...

. His son, Mike Allen

Mike Allen (Canadian politician)

Michael Allen, better known as Mike Allen, is a Canadian politician. He was elected to represent the riding of Tobique—Mactaquac as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons in the January 2006 federal election.Allen comes from a very politically active family...

, is currently a member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

.

He was first elected to the then-safe Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick

The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right political party in New Brunswick, Canada. It has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granting of responsible government to the colony...

 seat of Fredericton North

Fredericton North

Fredericton North was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada from 1973 to 2006. It was split between the new ridings of Fredericton-Nashwaaksis and Fredericton-Fort Nashwaak.- External links :*...

 in the 1978 election that produced a nearly deadlocked legislature. He sat as a backbench supporter of Premier

Premier of New Brunswick

The Premier of New Brunswick is the first minister for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive....

 Richard Hatfield

Richard Hatfield

Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...

 until after the 1982 election, in which the Conservatives won a large majority

Majority government

A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

, when he was named to the cabinet

Executive Council of New Brunswick

The Executive Council of New Brunswick is the cabinet of that Canadian province....

 as Minister of Supply and Services

Department of Supply and Services (New Brunswick)

The Department of Supply and Services is a part of the Government of New Brunswick. It is charged with providing central services, including maintenance of government-owned buildings, purchase of goods and services, provincial archives, translation and printing, to government departments and...

. He was defeated in the 1987 election which saw the PC Party lose all of its seats.

Following his defeat, he become a member of the new Confederation of Regions Party

New Brunswick Confederation of Regions Party

The New Brunswick Confederation of Regions Party was a political party in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada.It was the only branch of the Confederation of Regions Party to win any seats...

, known as CoR, which was formed by many anglophone conservatives. Running under the CoR banner he was re-elected to his old seat in 1991. CoR formed the official opposition and he became house leader

House Leader

In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament and an expert in parliamentary procedure...

. He did not seek re-election in 1995

New Brunswick general election, 1995

The 33rd New Brunswick general election was held on September 11, 1995, to elect 55 members to the 53rd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The election marked the debut of Bernard Valcourt as a provincial politician, and as leader of a...

.