1978 New Brunswick general election

Canadian provincial election September 2023 December 2009 1978 New Brunswick general election New Brunswick parliamentary no no 1974 New Brunswick general election 1974 48th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly October 23, 1978 members 1982 New Brunswick general election 1982 58 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 30 NB PC nohash Richard Hatfield October 13, 1967 NB PC name Carleton Centre 33 30 3 44.39% 2.37% Lib NB Liberal nohash Joseph Daigle May 6, 1978 NB Liberal name Kent North 25 28 3 44.36% 3.12% NDP NB NDP nohash John LaBossiere 1976 NB NDP name Ran in Kent Centre (lost) 0 0 6.48% 3.55% New_Brunswick_general_election_1978_-_Results_by_Riding.svg 400px Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Premier Richard Hatfield NB PC name Richard Hatfield Premier after election NB PC name thumb|right|250px|Rendition of party representation in the 49th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly decided by this election #6495ED Progressive Conservatives (30) #F08080 Liberals (28) The 1978 New Brunswick general election was held on October 23, 1978, to elect 58 members to the 49th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Richard Hatfield's Progressive Conservative Party narrowly won its third term. The governing PCs won 30 seats to 28 for the opposition;PCs Returned In Close Vote https://www.newspapers.com/article/telegraph-journal-pcs-returned-in-close/184455447/ 6 November 2025 Telegraph-Journal 24 October 1978 https://web.archive.org/web/20251106230343/https://www.newspapers.com/article/telegraph-journal-pcs-returned-in-close/184455447/ 6 November 2025 1 Newspapers.com Bruce Peters the result was the closest in New Brunswick history. The popular vote was very close: 146,719 votes were cast for Conservative candidates, and 146,596 for Liberals. In order to secure a workable majority following the election, Hatfield appointed Liberal Robert McCready as speaker of the legislature, despite strong objections from McCready's Liberal colleagues; McCready went on to seek re-election as a Conservative and served in Hatfield's cabinet. The Parti Acadien had its best ever showing in the election, winning 12% of the vote in the ridings where it fielded candidates, and coming within 200 votes of electing Armand Plourde in Restigouche West. Background In the lead up to 1978, the Opposition Liberal Party seemed destined to return to power. A number of scandals had been tied to the Conservatives and Liberal leader Robert Higgins was widely popular. In early 1978, Higgins believed he had tied some of the scandals directly to Hatfield himself. In a bold move, Higgins promised to resign should Hatfield prove that he was not tied directly to the scandal, which Hatfield promptly did. Higgins was forced to abruptly resign and was replaced by Joseph Daigle as leader. The Liberals mused that Hatfield had purposely ensured false information was leaked to the Liberals to lead them into making false accusations. Higgins' resignation created Hatfield's best chance to go to the polls. He called an election shortly after Daigle became Liberal leader. Despite the lack of a direct link to Hatfield, scandal remained tied to his government and a close election result was assured. Campaign Hatfield's government was not entirely clean. The Liberals pointed to the Conservatives' budgets, which no longer maintained a surplus. The Bricklin failure was also fresh on voters' minds. While campaigning in anglophone sections of the province, Hatfield accused Daigle of being an anti-monarchist for supporting Pierre Trudeau's constitutional reforms. Results 1978 New Brunswick election resultsPartyLeaderResultsSeats% of votes castProgressive ConservativeRichard Hatfield3044.39%Liberal Joseph Daigle2844.36%New DemocraticJohn LaBossiere06.48% Parti Acadien Jean-Pierre Lanteigne03.5% Independents  01.27%Total  58100.0% Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px PC NB PC 44.39 Liberal NB Liberal 44.36 New Democratic NB NDP 6.48 Others NB Independent 4.77Seats summary #ddd 600px 410px PC NB PC 51.72 Liberal NB Liberal 48.28 Results by riding North Consisting of Victoria, Madawaska, Restigouche and Gloucester county ridings. NB PC Liberal NDP Other |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Victoria-Tobique |NB PC background| |J. Douglas Moore 2,763 | |Bruce Hoyt 2,032 | |Earl W. Christensen 727 | | |NB PC background| |J. Stewart Brooks† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Grand Falls | |Joseph H. Rideout 1,063 |NB Liberal background| |Everard H. Daigle 2,779 | |Guildoi Pelletier 621 | | |NB Liberal background| |Everard H. Daigle |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Madawaska-les-Lacs |NB PC background| |Jean-Pierre Ouellet 2,876 | |Nelson Bellefleur 2,071 | | | |Yves C. LeClerc (Parti acadien) 90 |NB PC background| |Jean-Pierre Ouellet |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Madawaska Centre | |Léonard Plourde 1,352 |NB Liberal background| |Gérald Clavette 2,208 | | | |Aline Thérèse Gagnon (Parti acadien) 106 |NB Liberal background| |Gérald Clavette |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmundston |NB PC background| |Jean-Maurice Simard 3,228 | |Donald D'Amours 2,470 | | | |Céline Couturier (Parti acadien) 194 |NB PC background| |Jean-Maurice Simard |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Madawaska South | |Jean-Marc Violette 1,398 |NB Liberal background| |Héliodore Côté 1,832 | | | |Père Léo Theriault (Ind.) 659Jacques Lapointe (Parti acadien) 137 |NB Liberal background| |Daniel Daigle† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Restigouche West | |Jean Guy Ramond 1,576 |NB Liberal background| |Alfred J. Roussel 2,174 | | | |Armand Plourde (Parti acadien) 2,003 |NB Liberal background| |Alfred J. Roussel |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Campbellton |NB PC background| |Fernand G. Dubé 2,734 | |J. H. Wilfred Senechal 2,467 | |Bryce Andrew 331 | |Paul Aubin (Parti acadien) 337 |NB PC background| |Fernand G. Dubé |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dalhousie | |Aubrey Brownie 2,201 |NB Liberal background| |Allan E. Maher 2,726 | |Léopold Arseneault 274 | |Réal Gendron (Parti acadien) 246 |NB PC background| |John Potter† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Restigouche East | |Guy Laviolette 1,402 |NB Liberal background| |Rayburn Donald Doucett 2,035 | |Gail Walsh 509 | |Roland Godin (Parti acadien) 217 |NB Liberal background| |Rayburn Donald Doucett |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Nigadoo-Chaleur | |Roland Boudreau 2,346 |NB Liberal background| |Pierre Godin 2,960 | |Kevin O'Connell 387 | |Dr. Jean-Pierre Lanteigne (Parti acadien) 1,103 |NB PC background| |Roland Boudreau |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Nepisiguit-Chaleur | |Hilaire Brideau 1,102 |NB Liberal background| |Frank Branch 3,156 | | | |Paul-Émile Mourant (Parti acadien) 858 |NB Liberal background| |Frank Branch |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bathurst | |John A. Duffy 2,075 |NB Liberal background| |Paul Kenny 2,667 | |Kevin Mann 2,176 | |Lucie Losier (Parti acadien) 560 |NB Liberal background| |Eugene McGinley† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Caraquet | |Beatrice "Bibi" Doiron 2,809 |NB Liberal background| |Onil Doiron 3,925 | | | |Michel Blanchard (Parti acadien) 1,534 |NB Liberal background| |Onil Doiron |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Shippagan-les-Îles |NB PC background| |Jean Gauvin 3,023 | |André Robichaud 2,476 | | | |Michel Haché (Ind.) 1,280Laval Auclair (Parti acadien) 466 |NB Liberal background| |André Robichaud |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Tracadie | |George McLaughlin 2,490 |NB Liberal background| |Doug Young 4,374 | | | |Alyre Morais (Parti acadien) 806 |NB Liberal background| |Adjutor Ferguson† |} Central Consisting of Carleton, York, Sunbury and Northumberland county ridings. NB PC Liberal NDP Other |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Carleton North |NB PC background| |Charles G. Gallagher 2,397 | |Samuel J. "Sam" Perkins 1,694 | | | | |NB PC background| |Charles G. Gallagher |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Carleton Centre |NB PC background| |Richard B. Hatfield 2,043 | |David Crouse 1,734 | | | | |NB PC background| |Richard B. Hatfield |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Carleton South |NB PC background| |Steven P. Porter 2,317 | |Pat Saunders 1,776 | |Garth Brewer 389 | | |NB PC background| |A. Edison Stairs† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|York North |NB PC background| |Adelbert David Bishop 3,681 | |Richard Albert Carr 3,137 | |Albert Fraser MacDonald 741 | | |NB PC background| |Adelbert David Bishop |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|York South |NB PC background| |Leslie "Les" Hull 4,440 | |Blaine E. Hatt 3,036 | |Mark Allen Canning 444 | | |NB PC background| |Les Hull |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fredericton South |NB PC background| |J. W. "Bud" Bird 5,525 | |Stephen Patterson 4,252 | |Margo Dunn 643 | |Harry John Marshall (Ind.) 92 |NB PC background| |George Everett Chalmers† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fredericton North |NB PC background| |Edwin G. Allen 5,304 | |Carl Edward Howe 3,528 | |Christopher Devlin Hicks 662 | | |NB PC background| |Lawrence Garvie† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Sunbury |NB PC background| |Horace Smith 3,045 | |Ted Rogers 2,233 | |Randy E. Brodeur 373 | | |NB PC background| |Horace Smith |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Oromocto | |John Edward McKee 2,467 |NB Liberal background| |LeRoy Washburn 2,522 | |Jim Aucoin 283 | | |NB Liberal background| |LeRoy Washburn |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Southwest Miramichi | |John Munn 2,578 |NB Liberal background| |Morris Green 2,725 | | | | |NB PC background| |Sterling Hambrook† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Miramichi-Newcastle | |Douglas R. Woods 3,127 |NB Liberal background| |John McKay 3,200 | | | | |NB Liberal background| |John McKay |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Chatham | |Greg Barry 2,019 |NB Liberal background| |Frank E. Kane 2,920 | |Lloyd Vienneau 379 | | |NB Liberal background| |Frank E. Kane |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bay du Vin | |Robert S. Lamkey 1,816 |NB Liberal background| |L. Norbert Thériault 2,515 | | | |Joseph Alban Mazerolle (Ind.) 101 |NB Liberal background| |L. Norbert Thériault |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Miramichi Bay | |James Kenneth Gordon 1,750 |NB Liberal background| |Edgar LeGresley 2,232 | | | |Solomon Curry (Ind.) 1,524 |NB Liberal background| |Edgar LeGresley |} South West Consisting of Queens, Kings, Saint John and Charlotte county ridings. NB PC Liberal NDP Other |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Queens North |NB PC background| |Wilfred George Bishop 2,059 | |Eva Andries 1,145 | | | | |NB PC background| |Wilfred George Bishop |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Queens South | |A.P. Hetherington 1,446 |NB Liberal background| |Robert B. McCready 1,577 | |Charles Viger 202 | | |NB PC background| |Robert Corbett† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kings West |NB PC background| |John B. M. Baxter 4,047 | |Jack Stevens 3,023 | |George Little 1,132 | | |NB PC background| |John B. M. Baxter |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kings Centre |NB PC background| |Harold N. Fanjoy 3,284 | |David L. Nice 2,130 | |R. Harvey Watson 745 | | |NB PC background| |Harold N. Fanjoy |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kings East |NB PC background| |Hazen Myers 3,251 | |Gordon A. Lewis 2,135 | |Ernest A. Seedhouse 342 | | |NB PC background| |George Horton† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Saint John Fundy |NB PC background| |Beverly J. Harrison 2,196 | |Kevin Kilfoil 1,370 | |Larry Hanley 932 | | |NB PC background| |William J. Woodroffe† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|East Saint John |NB PC background| |G.S. "Gerry" Merrithew 3,626 | |George Creary 2,220 | |Douglas Justason 1,143 | | |NB PC background| |Gerry Merrithew |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Saint John Harbour | |E. Lorne Richardson 1,680 |NB Liberal background| |Louis E. Murphy 1,772 | |Harrison G. Harvey 625 | | |NB Liberal background| |John Turnbull† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Saint John South |NB PC background| |Nancy Clark 1,622 | |John P. Mooney 1,543 | |David M. Brown 416 | | |NB Liberal background| |John P. Mooney |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Saint John Park | |Garry Bona 1,677 |NB Liberal background| |Shirley Dysart 1,976 | |David T. Pye 551 | | |NB Liberal background| |Robert J. Higgins† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Saint John North |NB PC background| |Eric J. Kipping 1,906 | |Harry G. Colwell 1,569 | |Henry Thomas Watts 430 | | |NB Liberal background| |Shirley Dysart* |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Saint John West |NB PC background| |Rodman Emmason Logan 3,935 | |Delvan G. O'Brien 2,411 | |James William Orr 886 | | |NB PC background| |Rodman Emmason Logan |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Charlotte-Fundy |NB PC background| |James Nelson Tucker 1,741 | |Bernard L. Moses 1,311 | |George Robertson 164 | | |NB PC background| |James Nelson Tucker |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Charlotte Centre | |Robert D. "Bob" Lee 1,210 |NB Liberal background| |Sheldon Lee 1,404 | | | | |NB PC background| |DeCosta Young† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Charlotte West |NB PC background| |Leland W. McGaw 1,815 | |Philip Earl Johnson 1,074 | |William C. Mosher 201 | | |NB PC background| |Leland W. McGaw |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|St. Stephen-Milltown |NB PC background| |Bill Cockburn 1,986 | |Sydney Holmes 1,238 | |Charles Roland Campbell 136 | | |NB PC background| |Bill Cockburn |} South East Consisting of Kent, Westmorland and Albert county ridings. NB PC Liberal NDP Other |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kent North | |Louis Arsenault 1,070 |NB Liberal background| |Joseph Daigle 3,156 | | | |Philippe Ouellette (Parti acadien) 358 |NB Liberal background| |Joseph Z. Daigle |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kent Centre | |Claude Giruan Warren 1,171 |NB Liberal background| |Alan Robert Graham 2,352 | |John B. LaBossiere 249 | |Pierrette Leblanc (Parti acadien) 121 |NB Liberal background| |Alan Robert Graham |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kent South | |Omer Léger 3,279 |NB Liberal background| |Bertin LeBlanc 4,276 | | | |Dolan Surette (Parti acadien) 138 |NB PC background| |Omer Léger |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Shediac | |Régis Cormier |NB Liberal background| |Azor LeBlanc 5,342 | | | |Henri-Eugène Duguay (Parti acadien) 603 |NB Liberal background| |Azor LeBlanc |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Tantramar |NB PC background| |Lloyd Folkins 2,019 | |James G. Purdy 1,232 | |Robert Arthur Hall 1,924 | | |NB PC background| |Lloyd Folkins |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Memramcook | |Euclide Daigle 1,348 |NB Liberal background| |William "Bill" Malenfant 4,605 | |Joseph Eugene Guy LeBlanc 345 | |Donatien Gaudet (Parti acadien) 643 |NB Liberal background| |Bill Malenfant |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Moncton East | |Raymond J. Thibodeau 2,006 |NB Liberal background| |Ray Frenette 3,921 | |John William Kingston 592 | |Simone LeBlanc-Rainsville (Parti acadien) 469 |NB Liberal background| |Ray Frenette |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Moncton North | |Albert L. Galbraith 3,023 |NB Liberal background| |Father Mike McKee 4,362 | |Guy J. Richard 477 | |David Britton (Parti acadien) 225 |NB Liberal background| |Mike McKee |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Moncton West |NB PC background| |Mabel DeWare 4,211 | |Donald A. Canning 2,831 | | | |Paul Hebert (Parti acadien) 230 |NB PC background| |Paul Creaghan† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Petitcodiac |NB PC background| |C.W. "Bill" Harmer 4,911 | |Harold Alward 3,420 | |Ronald McGrath 621 | |Rev. C. Edward Pickett (Ind.) 556Patrick D. Clarke (Parti acadien) 117 |NB PC background| |Bill Harmer |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Riverview |NB PC background| |Brenda M. Robertson 4,443 | |W. A. "Bill" Payne 1,967 | | | | |NB PC background| |Brenda M. Robertson |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Albert |NB PC background| |Malcolm MacLeod 2,669 | |Grant William Colpitts 1,289 | |Robert J. Candy 351 | | |NB PC background| |Malcolm MacLeod |} References Category:1978 elections in Canada Category:Elections in New Brunswick Category:1978 in New Brunswick Category:October 1978 in Canada