N.B. Election Candidate Profile: Brian Gallant

A sketch of Premier Brian Gallant, leader of the Liberal Party of New Brunswick:

Age: 36, making him Canada’s youngest premier.

Hometown: Shediac Bridge, N.B.

READ MORE: New Brunswick voters offered a choice between contrasting leaders, policies

Job before politics: Gallant says he started two small companies to finance his post-secondary education, including a law degree from McGill University; he practised corporate and commercial law before becoming a partner at the Veritas Law firm in Dieppe, N.B.

Leadership history: Gallant won his party’s leadership race in 2012 without a seat, and was elected to the provincial legislature in 2013 as Liberal Opposition leader.

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Key issue: Gallant’s government has made marijuana part of the province’s economic strategy, and plans to “build a ‘best-in-class’ hub of infrastructure and research clusters to attract new investment” in cannabis. It has also pushed investment to create a hub for cyber-security work.

WATCH: New Brunswick major party leaders hit the campaign trail

1:48 New Brunswick major party leaders hit the campaign trail

What to look for on the campaign trail: Gallant has pushed to put more women on the ballot in New Brunswick, with his government winning praise for its plan to give parties a financial incentive to field more female candidates.

Did you know: Gallant married Karine Lavoie in October at a wedding in St. Andrews, N.B.

Social media stats: Nearly 20,000 Twitter followers; more than 15,575 Facebook followers.

Celebrity lookalike: Aaron Eckhart.

Quote: “To continue to grow the New Brunswick economy, we must consistently work at growing our population and workforce, and we must support industries that are in rural New Brunswick.”