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1978 New Brunswick general election

Canadian provincial election

Field	Value
election_name	1978 New Brunswick general election
country	New Brunswick
type	parliamentary
party_colour	no
party_name	no
previous_election	1974 New Brunswick general election
previous_year	1974
outgoing_members	48th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly
election_date	October 23, 1978
elected_mps	[members](49th-new-brunswick-legislative-assembly)
next_election	1982 New Brunswick general election
next_year	1982
seats_for_election	58 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
majority_seats	30
colour1
leader1	Richard Hatfield
leader_since1	October 13, 1967
party1
leaders_seat1	Carleton Centre
last_election1	33
seats1	30
seat_change1	3
percentage1	44.39%
swing1	2.37%
image2	Lib
colour2
leader2	Joseph Daigle
leader_since2	May 6, 1978
party2
leaders_seat2	Kent North
last_election2	25
seats2	28
seat_change2	3
percentage2	44.36%
swing2	3.12%
image3	NDP
colour3
leader3	John LaBossiere
leader_since3	1976
party3
leaders_seat3	Ran in Kent Centre (lost)
last_election3	0
seats3	0
seat_change3
percentage3	6.48%
swing3	3.55%
map_image	New_Brunswick_general_election_1978_-_Results_by_Riding.svg
map_size	400px
map_caption	Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding.
title	Premier
before_election	Richard Hatfield
before_party
after_election	Richard Hatfield
posttitle	Premier after election
after_party

]] The 1978 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.

The governing PCs won 30 seats to 28 for the opposition; the result was the closest in New Brunswick history. The popular vote was very close: 146,719 votes were cast for Conservative candidates, and 146,596 for Liberals. In order to secure a workable majority following the election, Hatfield appointed Liberal Robert McCready as speaker of the legislature, despite strong objections from McCready's Liberal colleagues; McCready went on to seek re-election as a Conservative and served in Hatfield's cabinet.

The Parti Acadien had its best ever showing in the election, winning 12% of the vote in the ridings where it fielded candidates, and coming within 200 votes of electing Armand Plourde in Restigouche West.

Background

In the lead up to 1978, the Opposition Liberal Party seemed destined to return to power. A number of scandals had been tied to the Conservatives and Liberal leader Robert Higgins was widely popular. In early 1978, Higgins believed he had tied some of the scandals directly to Hatfield himself. In a bold move, Higgins promised to resign should Hatfield prove that he was not tied directly to the scandal, which Hatfield promptly did. Higgins was forced to abruptly resign and was replaced by Joseph Daigle as leader. The Liberals mused that Hatfield had purposely ensured false information was leaked to the Liberals to lead them into making false accusations.

Higgins' resignation created Hatfield's best chance to go to the polls. He called an election shortly after Daigle became Liberal leader. Despite the lack of a direct link to Hatfield, scandal remained tied to his government and a close election result was assured.

Campaign

Hatfield's government was not entirely clean. The Liberals pointed to the Conservatives' budgets, which no longer maintained a surplus. The Bricklin failure was also fresh on voters' minds. While campaigning in anglophone sections of the province, Hatfield accused Daigle of being an anti-monarchist for supporting Pierre Trudeau's constitutional reforms.

Results

1978 New Brunswick election results	Party	Leader	Results
Progressive Conservative	Richard Hatfield	30	44.39%
Liberal	Joseph Daigle	28	44.36%
New Democratic	John LaBossiere	0	6.48%
Parti Acadien	Jean-Pierre Lanteigne	0	3.5%
Independents		0	1.27%
	58	100.0%

Results by riding

North

Consisting of Victoria, Madawaska, Restigouche and Gloucester county ridings.

|- || |J. Douglas Moore 2,763 | |Bruce Hoyt 2,032 | |Earl W. Christensen 727 | | ||

J. Stewart Brooks†

| |Joseph H. Rideout 1,063 || |Everard H. Daigle 2,779 | |Guildoi Pelletier 621 | | ||

Everard H. Daigle

Jean-Pierre Ouellet 2,876

| |Nelson Bellefleur 2,071 | | | |Yves C. LeClerc (Parti acadien) 90 ||

Jean-Pierre Ouellet

| |Léonard Plourde 1,352 || |Gérald Clavette 2,208 | | | |Aline Thérèse Gagnon (Parti acadien) 106 ||

Gérald Clavette

Jean-Maurice Simard 3,228

| |Donald D'Amours 2,470 | | | |Céline Couturier (Parti acadien) 194 ||

Jean-Maurice Simard

| |Jean-Marc Violette 1,398 || |Héliodore Côté 1,832 | | | |Père Léo Theriault (Ind.) 659 Jacques Lapointe (Parti acadien) 137 ||

Daniel Daigle†

| |Jean Guy Ramond 1,576 || |Alfred J. Roussel 2,174 | | | |Armand Plourde (Parti acadien) 2,003 ||

Alfred J. Roussel

Fernand G. Dubé 2,734

| |J. H. Wilfred Senechal 2,467 | |Bryce Andrew 331 | |Paul Aubin (Parti acadien) 337 ||

Fernand G. Dubé

| |Aubrey Brownie 2,201 || |Allan E. Maher 2,726 | |Léopold Arseneault 274 | |Réal Gendron (Parti acadien) 246 ||

John Potter†

| |Guy Laviolette 1,402 || |Rayburn Donald Doucett 2,035 | |Gail Walsh 509 | |Roland Godin (Parti acadien) 217 ||

Rayburn Donald Doucett

| |Roland Boudreau 2,346 || |Pierre Godin 2,960 | |Kevin O'Connell 387 | |Dr. Jean-Pierre Lanteigne (Parti acadien) 1,103 ||

Roland Boudreau

| |Hilaire Brideau 1,102 || |Frank Branch 3,156 | | | |Paul-Émile Mourant (Parti acadien) 858 ||

Frank Branch

| |John A. Duffy 2,075 || |Paul Kenny 2,667 | |Kevin Mann 2,176 | |Lucie Losier (Parti acadien) 560 ||

Eugene McGinley†

| |Beatrice "Bibi" Doiron 2,809 || |Onil Doiron 3,925 | | | |Michel Blanchard (Parti acadien) 1,534 ||

Onil Doiron

Jean Gauvin 3,023

| |André Robichaud 2,476 | | | |Michel Haché (Ind.) 1,280 Laval Auclair (Parti acadien) 466 ||

André Robichaud

| |George McLaughlin 2,490 || |Doug Young 4,374 | | | |Alyre Morais (Parti acadien) 806 || |Adjutor Ferguson† |}

Central

Consisting of Carleton, York, Sunbury and Northumberland county ridings.

|- || |Charles G. Gallagher 2,397 | |Samuel J. "Sam" Perkins 1,694 | | | | ||

Charles G. Gallagher

Richard B. Hatfield 2,043

| |David Crouse 1,734 | | | | ||

Richard B. Hatfield

Steven P. Porter 2,317

| |Pat Saunders 1,776 | |Garth Brewer 389 | | ||

A. Edison Stairs†

Adelbert David Bishop 3,681

| |Richard Albert Carr 3,137 | |Albert Fraser MacDonald 741 | | ||

Adelbert David Bishop

Leslie "Les" Hull 4,440

| |Blaine E. Hatt 3,036 | |Mark Allen Canning 444 | | ||

Les Hull

J. W. "Bud" Bird 5,525

| |Stephen Patterson 4,252 | |Margo Dunn 643 | |Harry John Marshall (Ind.) 92 ||

George Everett Chalmers†

Edwin G. Allen 5,304

| |Carl Edward Howe 3,528 | |Christopher Devlin Hicks 662 | | ||

Lawrence Garvie†

Horace Smith 3,045

| |Ted Rogers 2,233 | |Randy E. Brodeur 373 | | ||

Horace Smith

| |John Edward McKee 2,467 || |LeRoy Washburn 2,522 | |Jim Aucoin 283 | | ||

LeRoy Washburn

| |John Munn 2,578 || |Morris Green 2,725 | | | | ||

Sterling Hambrook†

| |Douglas R. Woods 3,127 || |John McKay 3,200 | | | | ||

John McKay

| |Greg Barry 2,019 || |Frank E. Kane 2,920 | |Lloyd Vienneau 379 | | ||

Frank E. Kane

| |Robert S. Lamkey 1,816 || |L. Norbert Thériault 2,515 | | | |Joseph Alban Mazerolle (Ind.) 101 ||

L. Norbert Thériault

| |James Kenneth Gordon 1,750 || |Edgar LeGresley 2,232 | | | |Solomon Curry (Ind.) 1,524 || |Edgar LeGresley |}

South West

Consisting of Queens, Kings, Saint John and Charlotte county ridings.

|- || |Wilfred George Bishop 2,059 | |Eva Andries 1,145 | | | | ||

Wilfred George Bishop

| |A.P. Hetherington 1,446 || |Robert B. McCready 1,577 | |Charles Viger 202 | | ||

Robert Corbett†

John B. M. Baxter 4,047

| |Jack Stevens 3,023 | |George Little 1,132 | | ||

John B. M. Baxter

Harold N. Fanjoy 3,284

| |David L. Nice 2,130 | |R. Harvey Watson 745 | | ||

Harold N. Fanjoy

Hazen Myers 3,251

| |Gordon A. Lewis 2,135 | |Ernest A. Seedhouse 342 | | ||

George Horton†

Beverly J. Harrison 2,196

| |Kevin Kilfoil 1,370 | |Larry Hanley 932 | | ||

William J. Woodroffe†

G.S. "Gerry" Merrithew 3,626

| |George Creary 2,220 | |Douglas Justason 1,143 | | ||

Gerry Merrithew

| |E. Lorne Richardson 1,680 || |Louis E. Murphy 1,772 | |Harrison G. Harvey 625 | | ||

John Turnbull†

Nancy Clark 1,622

| |John P. Mooney 1,543 | |David M. Brown 416 | | ||

John P. Mooney

| |Garry Bona 1,677 || |Shirley Dysart 1,976 | |David T. Pye 551 | | ||

Robert J. Higgins†

Eric J. Kipping 1,906

| |Harry G. Colwell 1,569 | |Henry Thomas Watts 430 | | ||

Shirley Dysart*

Rodman Emmason Logan 3,935

| |Delvan G. O'Brien 2,411 | |James William Orr 886 | | ||

Rodman Emmason Logan

James Nelson Tucker 1,741

| |Bernard L. Moses 1,311 | |George Robertson 164 | | ||

James Nelson Tucker

| |Robert D. "Bob" Lee 1,210 || |Sheldon Lee 1,404 | | | | ||

DeCosta Young†

Leland W. McGaw 1,815

| |Philip Earl Johnson 1,074 | |William C. Mosher 201 | | ||

Leland W. McGaw

Bill Cockburn 1,986

| |Sydney Holmes 1,238 | |Charles Roland Campbell 136 | | || |Bill Cockburn |}

South East

Consisting of Kent, Westmorland and Albert county ridings.

|- | |Louis Arsenault 1,070 || |Joseph Daigle 3,156 | | | |Philippe Ouellette (Parti acadien) 358 ||

Joseph Z. Daigle

| |Claude Giruan Warren 1,171 || |Alan Robert Graham 2,352 | |John B. LaBossiere 249 | |Pierrette Leblanc (Parti acadien) 121 ||

Alan Robert Graham

| |Omer Léger 3,279 || |Bertin LeBlanc 4,276 | | | |Dolan Surette (Parti acadien) 138 ||

Omer Léger

| |Régis Cormier || |Azor LeBlanc 5,342 | | | |Henri-Eugène Duguay (Parti acadien) 603 ||

Azor LeBlanc

Lloyd Folkins 2,019

| |James G. Purdy 1,232 | |Robert Arthur Hall 1,924 | | ||

Lloyd Folkins

| |Euclide Daigle 1,348 || |William "Bill" Malenfant 4,605 | |Joseph Eugene Guy LeBlanc 345 | |Donatien Gaudet (Parti acadien) 643 ||

Bill Malenfant

| |Raymond J. Thibodeau 2,006 || |Ray Frenette 3,921 | |John William Kingston 592 | |Simone LeBlanc-Rainsville (Parti acadien) 469 ||

Ray Frenette

| |Albert L. Galbraith 3,023 || |Father Mike McKee 4,362 | |Guy J. Richard 477 | |David Britton (Parti acadien) 225 ||

Mike McKee

Mabel DeWare 4,211

| |Donald A. Canning 2,831 | | | |Paul Hebert (Parti acadien) 230 ||

Paul Creaghan†

C.W. "Bill" Harmer 4,911

| |Harold Alward 3,420 | |Ronald McGrath 621 | |Rev. C. Edward Pickett (Ind.) 556 Patrick D. Clarke (Parti acadien) 117 ||

Bill Harmer

Brenda M. Robertson 4,443

| |W. A. "Bill" Payne 1,967 | | | | ||

Brenda M. Robertson

Malcolm MacLeod 2,669

| |Grant William Colpitts 1,289 | |Robert J. Candy 351 | | || |Malcolm MacLeod |}

References

Bruce Peters. (24 October 1978). "PCs Returned In Close Vote". [[Telegraph-Journal]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

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