Green Leader: Jack MacDougall

Green Party Leader Jack MacDougall is trying to transition from a life in New Brunswick's political backrooms to the spotlight as he leadshis upstart party into the Sept. 27 election.

MacDougall spent most of his life as a Liberal, earning his stripes as a top organizer for former premier Frank McKenna and challenging Premier Shawn Graham in theLiberal Party's leadership race in 2002.

But he shed his Liberal red for the Green Party in August 2008 and was acclaimed as the provincial party's leaderlast September.

MacDougall faces an uphill battle as he tries to challenge the traditional parties the Liberals and the Progressive Conservativeswhile also fighting both the New Democratic Party and the People's Alliance of New Brunswick for exposure.

This is the first provincial election that New Brunswick voters will be able to cast a ballot for the Greens.

MacDougall said in an interview that he hopes to see a Green breakthrough in the election.

"I think it is very, very plausible that we could get five to six seats," he said.

When MacDougall became leader, the Green party did nothave associations in any of the55 provincial ridings.

MacDougall is aiming to field a full slate of candidates and said he hopes that at leasthalf will be women.

"My main campaign objective is to provide everyone in New Brunswick the opportunity to vote for the Green Party," MacDougall said.

Policy ideas

Within a few months of MacDougall'sinstalment asthe Greens' leader, the Liberal government announced plans to sell NB Power to Hydro-Qubec.

MacDougallacknowledged the proposed deal gave his party a major platform to express its views. But he said he didn't want to be "involved with the anger thing," so the Green Partycoalesced its energy plan through a series of public meetings.

"Before we said no to that deal, we wanted to find out what we would say yes to," MacDougall said.

One of the main pillars of that plan was to sign a long-term power purchase agreement with Hydro-Qubec.

The Greens want to useQuebec's hydro power to help weanNew Brunswick off ofits traditional thermal power sources.

The Greensare also pushing a green economy platform. The party is advocating for more public transportation andsafe drinking water, and to increase theuse of renewable energy and the consumption of locally grown, organic food.

MacDougall has also brought some of his issues he championed in his 2002 Liberal leadership race to his current post.

For instance, he is raising the prospect of bringing back tolls on the Moncton-to-Fredericton highway.

The Green leader called the decision to take the tolls off the highway a "terrible financial legacy for New Brunswick taxpayers and future taxpayers."

Leadership issues

When he took over the leadership of the Greens, MacDougall admitted he was not the best person to lead the party into the future because he is unilingual and has never been elected to public office.

The veteran political organizer said the Greens will not talk about winning the next provincial election but will use the campaign as a "beginning."

"I believe it's not about the next election, it's about the next generation," MacDougall said.

Split with Liberals

MacDougall started with the Liberals in 1984, when the party was in opposition. He rose through the ranks, serving as a senior adviser in the premier's office under McKenna and thenas executive director of the provincial Liberals.

MacDougall organized Camille Thriault's successful 1998 leadership run to replace McKenna. But he soon fell out of favour with the party after the disastrous 1999 election, whichsaw Thriault lead the Liberals to only 10 seats.

He quit as the party's executive director. And in early 2000, he called for Thriault to resign as leader.

MacDougall returned to party politics in 2002 when he ran against Graham for the Liberal leadership.

MacDougall came second in the two-person race, garnering a surprising 25 per cent of the vote.

He finally cut ties with the Liberals in August 2008 when he accepted a position with the federal Green Partyas a Maritimesorganizerforthat year's federal election.

MacDougall said he left the Grits on good terms, but he felt out of step in the party.

Personal background

MacDougall was born in Saint John and now lives in Fredericton.

He ran the Courtesy Cab company in the Port City from 1976 to 1982.

In 1982, he took on a two-year fundraising initiative that allowed the Imperial Theatre in Saint John to open. The building had been used by the Full Gospel Assembly, a Protestant church,before MacDougall purchased the building for $1 and then committed to raising $1 million within a year.

The target was achieved and the theatre has since been designated as a National Historic Site.

After losing the 2002 Liberal leadership race, MacDougall left politics to pursue higher education.He finished his bachelor of education degree at the University of New Brunswick in 2005.

He has four children and one grandchild.