New Brunswick.

• Author: Sonier, Loredana Catalli
• Position: Legislative Reports

The Fifty-fifth Legislative Assembly was dissolved on August 18, 2006, just over three years into the Bernard Lord Government's mandate. At dissolution the standings in the House were: 28 Progressive Conservatives; 26 Liberals, and one independent.

New Brunswickers elected a new government on September 18, 2006. The results of the provincial election, which was held under new electoral boundaries prescribed in the Final Amended Report of the Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission, gave the Liberals a majority government with 29 seats, while the Progressive Conservatives won 26. The New Democrats, led by their new leader Allison Brewer, were not successful in electing a candidate.

The September 18 election resulted in the election of 11 new members and the number of women parliamentarians increased from six to seven.

On October 3, Shawn Graham, the Liberal Member for Kent, and the province's 31st Premier, was sworn into Office along with seventeen Ministers and one Minister of State in a ceremony held in the Assembly Chamber. The Executive Councillor's Oath and the Oath of Allegiance were administered by Lieutenant-Governor Hermenegilde Chiasson.

Premier Graham was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in a by-election held on October 19, 1998, to represent the riding of Kent; he was re-elected in the 1999 and 2003 provincial elections. He was elected Leader of the Liberal Party May 12, 2002; one of the youngest Liberal Leaders and the youngest Leader of the Official Opposition in the country.

On the afternoon of October 3, members of the Fifty-sixth Legislative Assembly took their Oath of Allegiance and signed the Members' Roll during a ceremony in the Chamber presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor.

Stuart Jamieson (Liberal, Saint John Fundy), the new Minister of Tourism and Parks, will serve as Government House Leader; former Speaker and Minister of Supply and Services Bev Harrison, (PC, Hampton-Kings) will serve as Opposition House Leader.

The Government House Leader announced that the first session of the 56th Legislative Assembly would open on February 6, 2007, allowing the new government time to put in place the framework of the "Charter for Change."

On October 16, 2006, Premier Graham nominated Eugene McGinley, (Liberal, Grand Lake-Gagetown) and Roy Boudreau (Liberal, Campbellton-Restigouche Centre) as Deputy Speakers. Their nominations must be formally ratified by the House.

A general orientation session for new...