New Brunswick general election, 1974
Encyclopedia
The 28th New Brunswick general election was held on November 18, 1974, to elect 58 members to the 48th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly
, the governing house of the province
of New Brunswick
, Canada
. It saw Richard Hatfield
's Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick
win its second majority government
with a gain of one seat despite losing the popular vote to Robert Higgins'
New Brunswick Liberal Party. It was the second election in a row in which the Conservatives received a majority in the parlieament despite receiving fewer votes than the Liberals.
Despite the Hatfield government's involvement in the failed Bricklin SV-1
automobile plant, and a series of kickback schemes, there were few surprises during the campaign. Hatfield had made inroads in the Acadian
community since the 1970 election
, winning three francophone
seats in by-election
s. The Acadian support proved key during Hatfield's entire term as premier.
This was the first election which saw candidates contest single member ridings; previous elections had each county as an electoral district electing a varying number of members based on their respective populations.
|- bgcolor=CCCCCC
!rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Party
!rowspan="2"|Party leader
!rowspan="2"|# of
candidates
!colspan="4"|Seats
|- bgcolor=CCCCCC
|align="center"|1970
|align="center"|Dissolution
|align="center"|Elected
|align="center"|% Change
|align="center"|#
|align="center"|%
|align="center"|Change
|align=left|Progressive Conservative
|align=left|Richard Hatfield
|align="right"|58
|align="right"|32
|align="right"|32
|align="right"|33
|align="right"|+1
|align="right"|
|align="right"|46.86%
|align="right"|-1.54%
|align=left|Liberal
|align=left|Robert Higgins
|align="right"|58
|align="right"|26
|align="right"|26
|align="right"|25
|align="right"|-1
|align="right"|
|align="right"|47.52%
|align="right"|-1.08%
|align=left|New Democratic
|align=left|Albert Richardson
|align="right"|58
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|
|align="right"|2.93%
|align="right"|+1.3%
|align=left|Parti Acadien
|align=left|Euclide Chaisson
|align="right"|
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|
|align="right"|1.16%
|align="right"|
|-
|}
48th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly
The 48th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly was created following a general election in 1974. It was dissolved on September 15, 1978.-Leadership:The speaker was William J. Woodroffe....
, the governing house of the province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
of 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...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It saw Richard Hatfield
Richard Hatfield
Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...
's Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick
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...
win its second majority government
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...
with a gain of one seat despite losing the popular vote to Robert Higgins'
Robert J. Higgins
Robert J. Higgins is a supernumerary justice on the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick and a former member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick who served as the leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party from 1971 to 1978....
New Brunswick Liberal Party. It was the second election in a row in which the Conservatives received a majority in the parlieament despite receiving fewer votes than the Liberals.
Despite the Hatfield government's involvement in the failed Bricklin SV-1
Bricklin SV-1
The Bricklin SV-1 was a gull-wing door sports car assembled in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The body panels were manufactured in a separate plant in Minto, New Brunswick. Manufactured from 1974 until early 1976 for the U.S. market, the car was the creation of Malcolm Bricklin, an American...
automobile plant, and a series of kickback schemes, there were few surprises during the campaign. Hatfield had made inroads in the Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
community since the 1970 election
New Brunswick general election, 1970
The 27th New Brunswick general election was held on November 18, 1974, to elect 58 members to the 47th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada...
, winning three francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
seats in by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s. The Acadian support proved key during Hatfield's entire term as premier.
This was the first election which saw candidates contest single member ridings; previous elections had each county as an electoral district electing a varying number of members based on their respective populations.
Results
!rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Party
!rowspan="2"|Party leader
!rowspan="2"|# of
candidates
!colspan="4"|Seats
|- bgcolor=CCCCCC
|align="center"|1970
New Brunswick general election, 1970
The 27th New Brunswick general election was held on November 18, 1974, to elect 58 members to the 47th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada...
|align="center"|Dissolution
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
|align="center"|Elected
|align="center"|% Change
|align="center"|#
|align="center"|%
|align="center"|Change
|align=left|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...
|align=left|Richard Hatfield
Richard Hatfield
Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...
|align="right"|58
|align="right"|32
|align="right"|32
|align="right"|33
|align="right"|+1
|align="right"|
|align="right"|46.86%
|align="right"|-1.54%
|align=left|Liberal
New Brunswick Liberal Association
The New Brunswick Liberal Association , more popularly known as the New Brunswick Liberal Party or Liberal Party of New Brunswick, is one of the two major political parties in the Canadian province of New Brunswick...
|align=left|Robert Higgins
Robert J. Higgins
Robert J. Higgins is a supernumerary justice on the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick and a former member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick who served as the leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party from 1971 to 1978....
|align="right"|58
|align="right"|26
|align="right"|26
|align="right"|25
|align="right"|-1
|align="right"|
|align="right"|47.52%
|align="right"|-1.08%
|align=left|New Democratic
New Brunswick New Democratic Party
The New Brunswick New Democratic Party is a social-democratic provincial political party in New Brunswick, Canada linked with the federal New Democratic Party .-Origins and early history:...
|align=left|Albert Richardson
|align="right"|58
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|
|align="right"|2.93%
|align="right"|+1.3%
|align=left|Parti Acadien
Parti acadien
The Parti Acadien was a political party in New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1970s and 1980s. The party was founded in 1972 by Acadians who were upset over poorer living conditions in predominantly francophone areas of the province versus those areas dominated by anglophones...
|align=left|Euclide Chaisson
|align="right"|
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|0
|align="right"|
|align="right"|1.16%
|align="right"|
|-
|}