Liberals Set Leadership Convention Date

A leadership convention to replace outgoing Liberal leader Brian Gallant will be held on June 22.

Keiller Zed, the party’s executive director, says the date was unanimously approved by the party’s board of directors on Saturday.

“Being in a minority government situation contributes to the fact that we as a party need to move quicker and prepare for the next election,” said Zed. “That was a sentiment certainly felt by our party.”

Gallant announced his plans to resign in mid-November after the party failed to form a minority government.

A month later, Gallant said he would step down at the next caucus meeting to pave the way for a new leader.

An interim leader will be chosen at the party’s caucus meeting in mid-February, Zed said.

The convention site typically rotates between the province’s three largest cities, and this time it is Saint John’s turn.

“But certainly there’s no doubt that given the results in southern New Brunswick for our party in the past election, the symbolism is not lost to show how significant and important the region is to the province and to the party,” he said.

The Liberals held onto just one seat in the Saint John area; the rest went to the now-governing Progressive Conservatives.

The last Liberal leadership convention in 2012 was the largest in the province’s history, Zed said, with over 19,000 registrants and just under 15,000 people voting.

“We’re preparing for something that could be similar, it could be smaller, it could be bigger,” he said, noting online and telephone voting will be available.

Rules and registration packages for candidates will be available in the first week of February.