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FREDERICTON New Brunswicks Liberals and governing Progressive Conservatives were in an unusually tight race Monday night as votes were tallied at the conclusion of an election campaign that was dominated by jobs and the economy.

The Liberals, led by political rookie Brian Gallant, had been the perceived front-runner in the race long before the campaign even began. But the results indicated a much closer contest than polls suggested.

Like his main rival, Tory Premier David Alward, Gallant focused his campaign on employment growth, promising to create thousands of jobs by spending $900 million over six years to pave roads, repair bridges and upgrade other infrastructure.

By contrast, Alward sought a second mandate by committing to spur economic growth through expansion of the provinces relatively new but contentious shale gas industry.

Alwards position was polarizing in the province, where public protests have raised concerns about the industrys use of hydraulic fracturing.

But Alward, 54, said New Brunswick is on the verge of $10 billion in private investment if it develops its deposits of shale gas and welcomes the proposed Energy East Pipeline, which could see oil shipped from Alberta to Saint John.

Alward and Gallant were both elected in their ridings by wide margins. But six of Alwards cabinet ministers went down in defeat.

With a large number of polls reporting results, the Liberals were leading and elected in 25 ridings compared to the Tories with 23.

Green Leader David Coon had a small lead in a close three-way race in the riding of Fredericton South.

Gallant, 32, has said there should be a moratorium on fracking until the risks to the environment, human health and water are known.

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Liberals and Tories neck and neck after early returns in New Brunswick election

WATCH: Laura Brown reports on the past month on the New Brunswick election campaign trail, where politicians have beenmaking promises and mistakes, and talking about the key issues facing the province.

FREDERICTON David Alward and Brian Gallant have each won their respective seats, while NDP leader Dominic Cardy lost his bid for election as the results of the New Brunswick election continue to roll in.

Cardy resigned after losing in the riding of Fredericton West-Hanwell to PC candidate Brian Macdonald and resigned as party leader.

ELECTION RESULTS: Live election results on Globalnews.ca

He said the party would hold a leadership race in the coming weeks.

Alward was elected in his riding of Carleton and Gallant was elected in his riding of Shediac Bay-Dieppe.

As 10:10 p.m. more than 306,000 ballots had been counted, with the Liberals leading or elected in 25 ridings and the Progressive Conservatives leading or elected in 23 ridings.

WATCH:Its still neck and neck between the Liberals and Tories. The Liberals are maintaining their slim margin much to the chagrin of one PC supporter who joins Shelley Steeves.

Green Party leader David Coon opened up a lead in the riding of Fredericton South over PC candidate Craig Leonard in his bid to become the first candidate from his party to win a seat in the provincial legislature.

Finance minister Blaine Higgs was elected in the bellwether riding of Quispamsis, while health minister Ted Flemming was elected in Rothesay.

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Liberals, Tories locked in tight race as N.B. election results arrive

The Alberta Liberals accused the government Friday of neglecting a massive $1.5-billion maintenance backlog at K-12 schools and post-secondary institutes across the province.

The Liberals obtained the figures through a Freedom of Information request, which shows deferred maintenance for K-12 schools is nearly $852 million, while post-secondaries have a combined backlog of $660.4 million.

Not only can the Tories not build any of the new schools promised but they cant even keep the existing ones in any reasonable shape, said Kent Hehr, Liberal education and advance education critic.

This is a stunning combination of neglect and incompetence that results in our kids paying the price as they are forced to learn in rundown, overcrowded schools, Hehr said.

According to the document, Calgarys public and Catholic school boards maintenance backlogs of $149.7 million and $25.2 million respectively.

The Calgary Board of Education has regularly stated its deferred maintenance tab has grown to nearly $1 billion.

In an email, Frank Coppinger, superintendent of facilities for the CBE, said the difference is one of definition, timing and number of facilities assessed.

The CBE allows for the aging of the facilities ... and adds life cycle replacement costs for a realistic final total value of deferred maintenance of $969 million, Coppinger said.

Unlike the CBE, Calgarys Catholic School District has aligned its deferred maintenance figures with the provincial government.

In Edmonton, the public and Catholic school boards have accumulated maintenance backlogs of $186.1 million and $112.5 million respectively.

Excerpt from:
Liberals slam province over massive $1.5B maintenance backlog at schools

Liberals Are Dummies
Liberals say the darnedest things. Fred Sanford tells exactly what he thinks of them!

By: theronniebuss

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Liberals Are Dummies - Video

Though the race is tightening, the Liberals under Brian Gallant appear on track to form New Brunswick's next government when voters go to the polls on Sept. 22.

The latest numbers put the Liberals in the lead with 45 per cent, against 36 per cent for David Alward's governing Progressive Conservatives. The New Democrats were at 11 per cent, with the Greens in fourth at six per cent.

The survey was conducted by Corporate Research Associates (CRA) between Sept. 15 and 18, interviewing 489 New Brunswickers via telephone. The margin of error associated with the survey is plus or minus 4.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The Liberals have been polling in the mid-40s for some time, suggesting that the party's support is holding steady and this despite the problematic interview Gallant recently had with the CBC's Harry Forestell.

But the PCs could be in the midst of making a late-campaign surge. Compared withCRA's previous survey of Aug. 19-31, the party has experienced a seven-point increase. On the question of who would make the best premier, Alward was up five points to 27 per cent (Gallant was still ahead with 32 per cent). Neither Alward nor his party have polled this high since 2012.

This is only the first sign that the Tories may be making a move, however. A poll conducted by Forum Research on Sept. 11, surveying 732 New Brunswickers via interactive voice response, found no such momentum for the party.

The NDP, on the other hand, seems to be sliding. The party was down six points from CRA's previous survey, echoing a smaller drop recorded by Forum on Sept. 11. In addition, leader Dominic Cardy was down four points to just seven per cent on who would make the best premier. Cardy has never polled so low, and the party has not put up such poor numbers in more than three years.

If the Progressive Conservatives can continue to make some gains over the final weekend of the campaign, they certainly do have a chance at re-election. But the gap is a large one to overcome.

Taking into account the potential for the normal kind of polling error and late shifts that have occurred in other provinces, the current projection for the Liberals stands at between 43 and 49 per cent support, with the Tories between 34 and 39 per cent. The NDP would be well behind, at between eight and 15 per cent support.

These numbers are likely to deliver the Liberals a majority government of between 25 and 35 seats, with the Tories taking between 13 and 24 seats. The New Democrats have an outside chance of winning a single seat.

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Polls suggest Liberals poised for government in N.B., despite PC gains