Graham may not join Grits in opposition

Last Updated: Monday, September 27, 2010 | 11:42 PM ET

CBC News

The New Brunswick Liberals will end up on the opposition side of the legislature, but they may go without leader Shawn Graham.

Liberal Leader Shawn Graham accepts defeat in Monday's election.

Though Graham was re-elected in his own riding, he said he took full responsibility for his party's poor showing and was considering resigning as leader.

"Voters were upset with us. And that's on our shoulders," said Graham. "I do not anticipate staying on as party leader."

Graham will go down in history as leader of the province's only single-term government since Confederation.

Liberal support drops

The Tories were elected in 42 seats. The Liberals gained only 13, down from 32 at dissolution.

The popular vote for the Liberals dropped to about 34 per cent from 48 per cent in the last election.

Graham said he has already congratulated PC Leader David Alward and would work with him to ensure a smooth transition of government.

"He has a difficult job ahead of him," Graham said of Alward.

Graham has seen his popularity plummet since he tried to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec last fall. The deal ultimately fell through.

Graham and his team tried to shift the focus off of that unpopular decision. During the 32-day campaign, the Liberals promised to create 20,000 new jobs in the next four years, saying the economic spinoffs would help pay down the $749-million deficit.

Political legacy

Graham started his political career in 1998, taking the riding of Kent in a byelection. Graham's father, Alan, held the riding for more than 30 years.

Graham's Liberals nearly toppled the Bernard Lord government in 2003, as public anger swelled over the Tories' handling of auto insurance. He came within one seat of becoming the first political leader to topple a one-term government in the province.

Graham stole a narrow three-seat majority away from Lord in 2006. He moved quickly, cutting the provincial portion of the gasoline tax by 3.8 cents a litre and signing a deal to fund its part of the Saint John Harbour cleanup.

In addition, the Liberals approved a new system of $2,000 grants to first-year university students and cut the parental and spousal contribution requirements for student loans. They also changed nursing home fees so that seniors' life savings weren't included in the calculation.

Troubles mounted

But the self-inflicted problems began to stack up.

First, the Liberals backtracked on a promise to keep the Tory government's HST rebate on home-heating fuel bills. They called it bad policy and said the province couldn't afford it.

Three months later, Graham and his team incurred the wrath of small businesses when they raised taxes to balance their first budget.

Public outrage boiled over on the next three missteps: reforms to post-secondary education, changes to French immersion and the aborted attempt to sell NB Power.

A report recommended changing the satellite campuses of University of New Brunswick in Saint John and the University of Moncton's campuses in Shippagan and Edmundston into polytechnics. Before the Liberals could define these institutions, protests erupted throughout the province.

The Liberals hatched a follow-up report, which killed the idea of polytechnics.

The Liberals found themselves mired in controversy with the release of another report, this one recommending the elimination of early French immersion and the creation of a universal program starting in Grade 6.

A group of parents filed for a court injunction, and won. The Liberal government was forced to consult longer on policy changes. It ended up with a hybrid policy, keeping an early entry point in Grade 3 and offering French training to all Grade 5 students.

Aborted NB Power deal

Then last October, the Liberals announced a $4.8-billion deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec.

The surprise deal, which gave residential ratepayers a five-year rate freeze, was immediately unpopular. Three months later, the Liberals announced a revised $3.2-billion deal that meant selling off fewer NB Power assets.

Tourism and Parks Minister Stuart Jamieson resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus. He insisted that the power deal should be put to a referendum.

By March, the Quebec government had pulled out of the deal, citing new costs that had emerged that the N.B. government was unwilling to cover.