On September 14, New Brunswick will elect a government to chart the future course of the province’s economy. As a special ‘Home Office” feature series, Mark Leger is chatting with all five main party leaders.
First up is Green Party leader David Coon, who argues for a greener economy of course, but also why the province is better off with a minority government that works for everyone, not just supporters of the party with the most votes.
“It’s far better for the province because it enables a greater diversity of voices to be reflected in legislation and in budgets,” says David. “That’s what we had begun to see, as opposed to a majority situation where the premier rolls out whatever their electoral platform commitments were and anything else…he thinks are important to do, and the opposition parties play a limited role.”
David says campaigning is more difficult this time around, but he sees some of the tactics as a throwback to an earlier time.
“It’s a little bit more like 1950s style campaigning if you can imagine someone on the back of a flatbed truck rolling into a local neighbourhood and people coming out to hear them,” he says.
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David says some of the candidates are being creative, getting out into the community in ways that voters find accessible and safe.
“In the rural ridings a number of candidates are utilizing some kind of camping trailer or small RV, something which is essentially a travelling campaign office which they set up in people’s communities, let people know ahead of time they’re going to be there,” he says. “People can come to pick up signs, meet the candidate, physically distanced and outside. It’s all about creating opportunities for voters to be in control of how they engage with the candidate.”
Listen to the interview with David in the player above or one of many podcast platforms.
The Huddle “Home Office” podcast, available on Spotify, Google Play, and Apple podcast platforms, features conversations with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia community leaders, entrepreneurs, analysts and Huddle reporters about the issues and events that accelerate and enrich the growth of the region’s economy and culture.
This story was originally published by Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
