The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the

deliberative assembly A deliberative assembly is a meeting of members who use parliamentary procedure. Etymology In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Po ...

of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' when the colony was created in 1784 but came into session only in 1786, following the first elections in late 1785. The legislative assembly was originally the lower house in a bicameral legislature. Its upper house counterpart, the Legislative Council of New Brunswick, was abolished in 1891. Its members are called " Members of the Legislative Assembly", commonly referred to as "MLAs".

History

Nova Scotia originally covered most of the territory of today's Maritime provinces. In 1784, New Brunswick became a distinct colony from Nova Scotia. Saint John was chosen as the original capital when New Brunswick was formed as it was the centre of commerce and the only city at that time. The first elections took place in November 1785. The legislative assembly came into session in January 1786. It was originally the lower house in a bicameral legislature. Its upper house counterpart, the Legislative Council of New Brunswick, was abolished on April 16, 1891.

Legislative Building

The New Brunswick Legislative Building is the current building that houses the Assembly. It opened in 1882, having been constructed by J.C. Dumaresq, following the destruction of the original building, known as Province Hall, by fire in 1880. The legislative chamber is designed to have four rows on the government side and three rows on the opposition side. This is because elections have traditionally yielded a strong government majority; in fact on occasion, even with many of the seats on one side of the House, the government has spilled over to the opposition side. Quite often the House is oriented to have only two rows on the opposition benches, in the event of a large opposition adding a third row makes the opposition benches rather crowded.

Current members

g.e. = general election, b.e. = by-election

History

Legislative Building

Current members

See also

References

Further reading