The New Democratic Party of New Brunswick leadership election of 2017 was called due to the resignation of New Brunswick New Democratic Party leader Dominic Cardy on January 1, 2017. The leadership election was scheduled for October 27, 2017. However, as the only candidate, Jennifer McKenzie registered at the close of nominations on August 4, 2017, the party executive confirmed McKenzie as party leader effective August 10, 2017. After almost six years as leader, Cardy resigned both as leader and as a member of the party, complaining of infighting as well as his disagreements with the policies of the party's federal counterpart, the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

Rules

The leader shall be elected by a preferential ballot on which members rank their order of preference for the contestants on the ballot. All members in good standing as of September 27, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. shall receive a ballot by mail.

Timeline

*March 2, 2011 - Cardy acclaimed party leader in the 2011 leadership election. *June 25, 2012 - Cardy places third in the Rothesay by-election. *September 22, 2014 - The NDP, led by Cardy, fails to win a seat in the 2014 general election though the party's popular support increases by 2.5 percentage points to 12.98%. Cardy himself places second in

Fredericton West-Hanwell Fredericton West-Hanwell (french: Fredericton-Ouest-Hanwell) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was first contested in the 2014 general election, having been created in the 2013 redis ...

. The Green Party of New Brunswick, meanwhile, wins its first seat in the New Brunswick legislature displacing the NDP as the province's third party. Cardy announces his resignation as party leader. *October 21, 2014 - Cardy agrees to delay his resignation in order to contest a by-election in

Saint John East Saint John East (french: Saint-Jean-Est) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. The riding was created in the 1973 redistribution and was called East Saint John. The riding was created fro ...

, after its newly elected MLA unexpectedly resigns. *November 17, 2014 - Cardy is defeated in the by-election, placing third. *December 10, 2014 - The party executive rejects Cardy's resignation and urges him to remain, offering him a salary for the first time. Cardy agrees. *Fall 2016 - Memramcook-Tantramar riding association passes a resolution calling for a

leadership review In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, ...

, claiming, of Cardy, that " s style of leadership has not been constructive in terms of building bridges, he's been mostly burning bridges and alienating a lot of people in the party." *January 1, 2017 - Cardy announces his resignation as both party leader and as a party member, alleging that "destructive forces" had colluded with the leadership of the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workpl ...

(New Brunswick) against him, and accusing his opponents of being "extremists" and "communists". Party president Sharon Levesque also resigns. Cardy subsequently joined the

Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right, conservative political party in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The party has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granti ...

as its director of strategic issues. *January 9, 2017 - Rosaire L'Italien, a past federal NDP candidate and retired journalist, is appointed interim leader by the party executive. *March 20, 2017 - Campaign period beginshttp://www.nbnd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Press-ENG-Leadership-Contest-Rules.pdf *August 4, 2017 - Nomination period closes at 4 p.m. AT. Jennifer McKenzie is the only nominee. *August 10, 2017 at 11:00 a.m.- The party held a press conference at the Fredericton Inn announcing that the party executive has confirmed Jennifer McKenzie as party leader.

Candidate

* Jennifer McKenzie, federal NDP candidate in Fundy Royal (2015), former chair of the

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 25 prior to 1999) refers to both the institution responsible for the operation of all English public schools in the city of Ottawa, Ont ...

Declined

*Patrick Colford, president of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour *

Yvon Godin Yvon Godin (born May 12, 1955) is a Canadian politician. Godin was a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Acadie—Bathurst from 1997 until his retirement in 2015. P ...

, MP for

Acadie—Bathurst Acadie—Bathurst (formerly Gloucester) is a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1867. Until 1997, the riding was largely held by the Liberal Party thanks to s ...

(1997-2015) *

Kelly Lamrock Kelly Lamrock (born February 5, 1970) is a lawyer and political consultant in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. He was previously a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick for Fredericton-Fort Nashwaak, and Minister of ...

, interim executive director of the New Brunswick NDP (2016–17), NDP candidate (2014), joined NDP in 2013, Liberal MLA (2003-2010), Attorney General of New Brunswick (2010), Minister of Social Development (2009-2010), Minister of Education (2006-2008). * Rosaire L'Italien, interim leader (2017–present), federal NDP candidate (2015)

References

{{NDP Next 2017 in New Brunswick 2017 elections in Canada New Brunswick New Democratic Party leadership election

Rules

Timeline

Candidate

Declined

See also

References