2nd MLA begins Conservative leadership campaign

New Brunswick MLA Bruce Fitch has entered the running to lead the province's Progressive Conservative Party.

He made the announcement on Monday, becoming the second candidate in the race. Woodstock MLA David Alward announced in June that he was seeking the party's leader position.

Fitch hasrepresented the Riverview riding since 2003 and is a former Energy minister and Justice minister. He said he'll be working to distinguish himself from other candidates.

"I feel my business background, my political background being mayor for five years, is something no one else has on their resume," he said.

Fitch previously worked as an insurance agent and financial planner before being elected as a councillor in 1989. He then served as mayor of Riverview for two terms beginning in 1998.

He was first elected to the legislative assembly in 2003 and served as Energy minister in Bernard Lord's Conservative government. He was named Justice minister in 2006.

Fitch pointed to tax reform and the restoration of the Petitcodiac River as areas of interest to him and slammed the governing Liberals efforts in the two areas calling them "Band-Aid approaches".

Fitch said his campaign will be addressing concerns he's heard from his constituents as well as the interest of his party's future.

The Conservatives will hold their leadership convention on Oct. 18 at the Aitken Centre at the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus. There will also be at least four satellite voting stations across the province.

The party will be using a one-member, one-vote system to choose the new leader.

The convention comes 11 years after the party chose Lord as its last leader. Lord resigned in January 2007 after his government lost the 2006 provincial election to the governing Liberals.

Since then, Jeannot Volp has been serving as interim leader.

Four other Tories, including MLA Paul Robichaud, have told CBC News they are considering running, but all have yet to announce their candidacy.