Municipal elections in New Brunswick have been postponed due to the coronavirus.
MLAs passed legislation Tuesday to postpone the elections, which were scheduled for May 11.
Members of the legislature’s all-party committee on COVID-19 agreed to bring legislation to the house during their first meeting on Friday.
Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Carr commended all political parties for working together on this legislation.
“The collaboration with this comes at a time when we’re in unchartered territory here. We’re leading the way or trying to show the leadership that New Brunswickers want to see,” said Carr.
David Coon, the leader of the Green Party, said no new date has been set for the elections at this time.
“The municipal elections shall not be later than May 10th, 2021. They could happen before that,” said Coon.
The decision is also being commended by Kim Poffenroth, the chief electoral officer for New Brunswick.
“With the large number of electors, polling stations and poll workers, there was no safe way to undertake the municipal election at this time,” said Poffenroth in a statement.
“Elections are contact-heavy events and with the guidance of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s directive on public gatherings and social distancing, it was felt to be the only option at this time.”
The legislation also postpones the two provincial byelections scheduled for June 15 in Saint Croix and Shediac Bay-Dieppe.
