The 1963 New Brunswick general election was held on April 22, 1963, to elect 52 members to the 45th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. The election was called by surprise by

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Premier

Louis Robichaud Louis Joseph Robichaud (October 21, 1925 – January 6, 2005), popularly known as "Little Louis" or "P'tit-Louis", was the second (but first elected) Acadian premier of New Brunswick, serving from 1960 to 1970. With the Equal Opportunity p ...

. The Progressive Conservatives, under leader

Cyril Sherwood Cyril Beverly "Cy" Sherwood (July 1, 1915 – December 10, 1996) was a farmer and political figure in New Brunswick, Canada. He represented King's County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick as a Progressive Conservative member fro ...

, had accused the Liberals of corruption for allowing an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

company, Cartiere del Timavo, to construct a paper mill in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, and grant it rights to Crown land over other companies. The Conservatives also claimed that Lieutenant-Governor Leonard O'Brien had sold land to the company. Robichaud made a quick decision to call an election amid those accusations. Analysts had wondered why Robichaud decided to call the election only two-and-a-half years into his mandate over what they thought was a small issue. Several of his projects, such as tax reform and an overhaul of post-secondary education (which eventually led to the creation of the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian francophone university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on highe ...

and the

University of New Brunswick at Saint John The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

), died in the legislature. However, Robichaud later said that he held the election while his popularity was at its height, and the Conservatives were weak. Robichaud campaigned on a platform of economic development and encouragement of outside investment in the province. Cartiere del Timavo threatened to cancel the project if the Liberals lost the election. Many voters perceived Sherwood as too timid in his attacks on the Liberals on the campaign trail, as compared to his vigorous speeches in the Legislature. The campaign coincided with a federal election, which was held two weeks earlier. That election saw the Conservatives of

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...

defeated by the Liberals of Lester Pearson. Robichaud then used the Liberal victory nationally as leverage provincially and promised New Brunswick would receive better treatment from the federal government with the same party in power. On election day, the Liberals were re-elected with an increased majority of one seat over the 1960 election.

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