Daniel Allain wins PC party leadership

Members of New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative Party gathered right here at the Fredericton Convention Centre where they announced their brand new leader after a year-long race. Daniel Allain received 2,543 votes. Daniel, it's an honour of my life to accept this mandate. Daniel Allain won comfortably but not overwhelmingly. He received more than 2,500 votes while his challenger Don Monaghan got almost 1,800 votes. With a considerable swath of ballots cast for his opponent, Allain acknowledges the only way to beat Premier Susan Holt in the next election is to come together as a party. And New Brunswickers are expecting a viable alternative to the Holt government, so we have to be there and we have to make sure that we're strong. Despite his loss, Monaghan says he has no difficulty with his leader asking him to help bring the party together. That's what a leader needs to do. I respect that. And again, we want to win the 2020 election. We need to come together as a party, show unity, and show New Brunswickers that we are the right party to govern. Other than rallying party support, Allain says one of his main priorities as leader will be developing policy options to tackle New Brunswick's projected $1.6 billion deficit. The development of natural resources and making sure we make investments on resources will help that. Will it solve everything? No, it won't pay the debt tomorrow morning. But if it can make a dent on the deficits, that's something important. The next election is scheduled for October 2028, where the PCs will face off against Susan Holt and the Liberals.