New Brunswick’s Memramcook-Tantramar is one of many new ridings being contested for the first time in the 2014 provincial election. But voters there have plenty on their minds beyond what happens on election day.
The redistribution of electoral boundaries saw the creation of the riding, merging the francophone riding of Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe with the riding of Tantramar. This change is currently under a constitutional challenge launched by two francophone groups, the Acadian Society and the Association of francophone municipalities. They argued that joining the small francophone village of Memramcook with a predominately English riding fails to protect the francophone minority language.
PC MLA Michael Olscamp, who won in Tantramar in the 2006 and 2010 elections, faced off against Liberal MLA Bernard Leblanc, who won the 2006 and 2010 elections in Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe. LeBlanc was elected on Monday night, with over 50 per cent of the vote (with 15 out of 18 polls reporting).
Polls closed at 8pm (click here for live election results).
At dissolution, the PC held 41 seats, the Liberals 13 and one Independent seat. Redistribution will see the total number of seats cut from 55 to 49 this election.
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