New Democratic Party Leader Elizabeth Weir is the veteran among leaders in a place where experience counts.
With 15 years of leadership experience under her belt, Weir is acknowledged by politicians on all sides as a clear and consistent voice of dissent on this province's political landscape.

"There are times in the legislature when you get that sense of deja vu," she says. "The advantage of experience is that you remember the history of political issues. You remember why decisions were taken. You remember that things were tried before and they didn't work."

Weir was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on February 20, 1948. She holds an honours degree in Sociology from the University of Waterloo and a law degree from the University of Western Ontario. At Western, she worked with other women in her class to establish the first chapter of the National Association of Women and the Law. She taught courses in Industrial Relations and Employment Law at the University of New Brunswick.

When she took over the NDP in 1988 she was the first female leader of a political party in New Brunswick history. Weir's first years as leader were difficult, because the Liberals held every seat in the legislature and opposition parties were only allowed to question the government by special invitation. Despite that unusual arrangement, Weir was tenacious in her effort to hold the government accountable and to make a name her herself, often through quick wit and solid research.

With her election to the legislature in 1991 she became the first elected leader of the provincial New Democratic Party. While she has won three elections in her home riding of Saint John Harbour (formerly Saint John South), the party has not elected another member to the legislature under her leadership.

Her personal popularity has always been greater than that of her party, and that has prompted some to question the relevancy of the NDP in New Brunswick. Weir scoffs at that and is quick to explain the importance of the party in this province.

"I think it's defined every time somebody walks up to me and says 'thank God you're there.' I think New Brunswickers appreciate that the legislature would have been an entirely different place without having the New Democratic Party represented and we're clearly in a different situation today. We have a member of Parliament who's been re-elected, we have a new national leader who's clearly got strong legs right across the country so that simply is a debate that's irrelevant."

Weir has been a member of several delegations working on international democracy development projects. She has worked helping to train parliamentarians in Mozambique, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Macedonia and most recently, in Niger.

In January, Weir went after the president's job in the national party. She had the backing of the largest labour union in Atlantic Canada, but it wasn't enough to unseat incumbent Adam Giambrone. That defeat behind her, she enters this election campaign with her focus firmly on the home front.

"New Brunswickers have been ready for the party and we haven't been ready for them. To see the extraordinary calibre of the candidates is hugely encouraging."