FREDERICTON —
Former Prime Minister Brian Gallant announced on Thursday his plan to step down from the New Brunswick Liberal leader and announced a new mission: to visit Canada's only official bilingual province to fix the language gap.
When he asked the party to start looking for his replacement, Gallant told reporters that he would take the opportunity to seek more unity on language issues --
He said he did not do enough as prime minister.
"Some people are worried about what they perceive and may happen to them because of being bilingual.
"Obviously, there are people who want to see their rights defended," he said . ".
So I think we can find common ground, and I think the more people who know the facts, the more they understand the discussion that we will obviously have as a province.
"Gallant became a leader in 2012 and became prime minister at the age of 32 in 2014, but there was a shortfall in the provincial elections in September.
The results of the vote showed a clear disagreement on the political landscape, with liberalism primarily supporting the French-speaking north, while the Conservative party supporting the English-speaking south.
"This is one of the toughest decisions I have to make," Garant said at a press conference Thursday in the circular hall of the provincial council when he announced his resignation.
Two weeks ago, his minority government was overthrown in a vote of confidence in liberal governance speeches, with Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Higgs and his minority government sworn in --in last week.
Gallant said he plans to continue as leader of the opposition before the party chooses his successor and will continue as MLA as he rides Shediac Bay-Dieppe.
"In the unknown waters of the minority government, I will continue to run the party and provide some stability when the party chooses the next leader for the next election," he said . ".
The Liberal Party board will meet on December.
Discuss the next steps to organize a leadership meeting.
"I do think that having a strong Liberal Party, as strong as possible, is crucial to the future of our province.
I think that in order to build a strong Liberal Party, a leadership competition will help to re-inspire some new ideas in the discussion . "
Ranked in 49-
The Parliament consists of 22 members of the Conservative Party, 21 members of the Liberal Party, 3 members of the Green Party and 3 members of the People's Union.
The interim commissioner for official languages, Michel Kaili, said that while there is a language problem in the province, there is not much disagreement, as some have said.
"I don't think we are that far away.
We hear a lot of people criticize it.
Many people who do not speak do not feel the same.
Unfortunately, people who have a strong sense of the situation have become more outspoken, and then the media have reported the situation and we feel there is a big disagreement, "he said.
He said he did have concerns about the election of three members of the People's Union.
"The bilingual issue is an important part of their campaign and one of the issues is that for whatever reason they want to get rid of where I am now," I don't understand, "he said.
"You have to ask yourself what their intentions are.
This raised some concerns.
People's Union Leader Chris Austin said Thursday that his party supports bilingual but does not always support the way bilingual is implemented.
Austin said he was not optimistic about any positive results from Gallant's tour.
"If he thinks he has a wand to solve the problem, he has four years to solve the problem, but it fails miserably.
"So, if he can solve this problem now through a provincial tour, I wish him good luck," Austin said . ".
Green Party leader David Cohn said he was surprised that gallant continued to serve as leader of the opposition
It was noted that in many cases the interim leader was chosen.
Gallant and Higgs don't like each other and having them both as leaders of the legislature will not lead to the atmosphere of cooperation that the public wants, he said.
"Because there is a deep wound between these two people, it is hard for me to imagine how this will lead to a common
The working atmosphere in the Legislative Assembly, "said Cohn. FREDERICTON —
Former Prime Minister Brian Gallant announced on Thursday his plan to step down from the New Brunswick Liberal leader and announced a new mission: to visit Canada's only official bilingual province to fix the language gap.
When he asked the party to start looking for his replacement, Gallant told reporters that he would take the opportunity to seek more unity on language issues --
He said he did not do enough as prime minister.
"Some people are worried about what they perceive and may happen to them because of being bilingual.
"Obviously, there are people who want to see their rights defended," he said . ".
So I think we can find common ground, and I think the more people who know the facts, the more they understand the discussion that we will obviously have as a province.
"Gallant became a leader in 2012 and became prime minister at the age of 32 in 2014, but there was a shortfall in the provincial elections in September.
The results of the vote showed a clear disagreement on the political landscape, with liberalism primarily supporting the French-speaking north, while the Conservative party supporting the English-speaking south.
"This is one of the toughest decisions I have to make," Garant said at a press conference Thursday in the circular hall of the provincial council when he announced his resignation.
Two weeks ago, his minority government was overthrown in a vote of confidence in liberal governance speeches, with Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Higgs and his minority government sworn in --in last week.
Gallant said he plans to continue as leader of the opposition before the party chooses his successor and will continue as MLA as he rides Shediac Bay-Dieppe.
"In the unknown waters of the minority government, I will continue to run the party and provide some stability when the party chooses the next leader for the next election," he said . ".
The Liberal Party board will meet on December.
Discuss the next steps to organize a leadership meeting.
"I do think that having a strong Liberal Party, as strong as possible, is crucial to the future of our province.
I think that in order to build a strong Liberal Party, a leadership competition will help to re-inspire some new ideas in the discussion . "
Ranked in 49-
The Parliament consists of 22 members of the Conservative Party, 21 members of the Liberal Party, 3 members of the Green Party and 3 members of the People's Union.
The interim commissioner for official languages, Michel Kaili, said that while there is a language problem in the province, there is not much disagreement, as some have said.
"I don't think we are that far away.
We hear a lot of people criticize it.
Many people who do not speak do not feel the same.
Unfortunately, people who have a strong sense of the situation have become more outspoken, and then the media have reported the situation and we feel there is a big disagreement, "he said.
He said he did have concerns about the election of three members of the People's Union.
"The bilingual issue is an important part of their campaign and one of the issues is that for whatever reason they want to get rid of where I am now," I don't understand, "he said.
"You have to ask yourself what their intentions are.
This raised some concerns.
People's Union Leader Chris Austin said Thursday that his party supports bilingual but does not always support the way bilingual is implemented.
Austin said he was not optimistic about any positive results from Gallant's tour.
"If he thinks he has a wand to solve the problem, he has four years to solve the problem, but it fails miserably.
"So, if he can solve this problem now through a provincial tour, I wish him good luck," Austin said . ".
Green Party leader David Cohn said he was surprised that gallant continued to serve as leader of the opposition
It was noted that in many cases the interim leader was chosen.
Gallant and Higgs don't like each other and having them both as leaders of the legislature will not lead to the atmosphere of cooperation that the public wants, he said.
"Because there is a deep wound between these two people, it is hard for me to imagine how this will lead to a common
The working atmosphere in the Legislative Assembly, "said Cohn. FREDERICTON —
Former Prime Minister Brian Gallant announced on Thursday his plan to step down from the New Brunswick Liberal leader and announced a new mission: to visit Canada's only official bilingual province to fix the language gap.
When he asked the party to start looking for his replacement, Gallant told reporters that he would take the opportunity to seek more unity on language issues --
He said he did not do enough as prime minister.
"Some people are worried about what they perceive and may happen to them because of being bilingual.
"Obviously, there are people who want to see their rights defended," he said . ".
So I think we can find common ground, and I think the more people who know the facts, the more they understand the discussion that we will obviously have as a province.
"Gallant became a leader in 2012 and became prime minister at the age of 32 in 2014, but there was a shortfall in the provincial elections in September.
The results of the vote showed a clear disagreement on the political landscape, with liberalism primarily supporting the French-speaking north, while the Conservative party supporting the English-speaking south.
"This is one of the toughest decisions I have to make," Garant said at a press conference Thursday in the circular hall of the provincial council when he announced his resignation.
Two weeks ago, his minority government was overthrown in a vote of confidence in liberal governance speeches, with Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Higgs and his minority government sworn in --in last week.
Gallant said he plans to continue as leader of the opposition before the party chooses his successor and will continue as MLA as he rides Shediac Bay-Dieppe.
"In the unknown waters of the minority government, I will continue to run the party and provide some stability when the party chooses the next leader for the next election," he said . ".
The Liberal Party board will meet on December.
Discuss the next steps to organize a leadership meeting.
"I do think that having a strong Liberal Party, as strong as possible, is crucial to the future of our province.
I think that in order to build a strong Liberal Party, a leadership competition will help to re-inspire some new ideas in the discussion . "
Ranked in 49-
The Parliament consists of 22 members of the Conservative Party, 21 members of the Liberal Party, 3 members of the Green Party and 3 members of the People's Union.
The interim commissioner for official languages, Michel Kaili, said that while there is a language problem in the province, there is not much disagreement, as some have said.
"I don't think we are that far away.
We hear a lot of people criticize it.
Many people who do not speak do not feel the same.
Unfortunately, people who have a strong sense of the situation have become more outspoken, and then the media have reported the situation and we feel there is a big disagreement, "he said.
He said he did have concerns about the election of three members of the People's Union.
"The bilingual issue is an important part of their campaign and one of the issues is that for whatever reason they want to get rid of where I am now," I don't understand, "he said.
"You have to ask yourself what their intentions are.
This raised some concerns.
People's Union Leader Chris Austin said Thursday that his party supports bilingual but does not always support the way bilingual is implemented.
Austin said he was not optimistic about any positive results from Gallant's tour.
"If he thinks he has a wand to solve the problem, he has four years to solve the problem, but it fails miserably.
"So, if he can solve this problem now through a provincial tour, I wish him good luck," Austin said . ".
Green Party leader David Cohn said he was surprised that gallant continued to serve as leader of the opposition
It was noted that in many cases the interim leader was chosen.
Gallant and Higgs don't like each other and having them both as leaders of the legislature will not lead to the atmosphere of cooperation that the public wants, he said.
"Because there is a deep wound between these two people, it is hard for me to imagine how this will lead to a common
The working atmosphere in the Legislative Assembly, "said Cohn.