Trudeau tries to head off Liberal-Green split during campaign stop in Fredericton

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made a campaign swing through New Brunswick on Wednesday, appealing to left-of-centre voters to stick with his party rather than defect to the Greens in next month's election.

Trudeau made a policy announcement aimed at seniors at the Fredericton Lawn Bowling Club, located in the provincial Fredericton South constituency held by New Brunswick Green Leader David Coon.

He said voters who elected Coon provincially need to support his party if they want progress on environmental, Indigenous and women's issues to continue.

"Are we going to continue to stay true to our values and to the hard work we've been doing for the past four years, or do we go back to the Harper years?" he said. "That is the choice Canadians are facing right now."

He said rising poll numbers for the Green Party in New Brunswick, and the party's provincial breakthrough last year with three MLAs elected, "is interesting to political scientists and to pundits, but I'm listening to Canadians."

Fredericton Liberal candidate Matt DeCourcey said the Green victories provincially won't necessarily carry over into the national race.

"We need to remember this is a federal election," he told reporters.

But Jenica Atwin, the federal Green candidate in Fredericton, said the Green surge provincially is translating into support for her campaign as she knocks on doors.

"I'm hearing lots at the door, people saying 'I hope you work as hard as David Coon,' or 'We really like what David Coon did on this policy work,'" she said.

"I'm excited to feed off that because I look to him for advice and direction. He's a fantastic leader for New Brunswick."

Coon won Fredericton South with 56.7 per cent of the vote in last year's provincial election, and in the most recent poll by Narrative Research, he placed second among voters for their best choice for premier, ahead of Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers.

In August, Narrative measured support for the federal Greens in New Brunswick at 20 per cent.

That may not be enough to elect Green MPs, but it could make life difficult for some Liberal candidates.

'Could take a big chunk of the vote'

"There's no doubt they could take a big chunk of the vote," said the CBC's polling expert Eric Grenier. "If that comes primarily from the Liberals, that could hurt their re-election chances in a number of ridings."

DeCourcey said there is a lot for progressive voters to like in the Liberal record, citing initiatives to address climate change, reduce poverty, and promote human rights and diversity.

He sidestepped questions about the Liberals abandoning their 2015 promise to reform the electoral system.

Atwin said left-leaning voters were "betrayed" by that broken promise and would now support the Greens as a more genuine progressive choice.

"We think we're that option. We think we're the ones to look to for voters looking for change, and looking to get better outcomes than what we've seen in the last four years."

Atwin said some voters she has met are worried about a Liberal-Green split that would help the Conservatives.

But she said she tells them that if no party wins a majority Oct. 21 and the Greens elect more MPs, they could hold the balance of power.

Conservative candidate Andrea Johnson said she's aware a Liberal-Green split could help her.

"The numbers speak for themselves," she said of recent polls.

But Johnson said while progressive voters are looking for action on climate change, she doesn't want it to come at the expense of other priorities such as health care and making life more affordable.

The NDP has not nominated a candidate in Fredericton yet and People's Party of Canada candidate Jason Paull could not be reached for comment.

During his news conference, Trudeau appeared to suggest the recent Green victories in provincial elections in New Brunswick, Ontario and Prince Edward Island were a reaction to the policies of Progressive Conservative premiers.

Asked why he thought the Greens were doing well, he pointed to Conservative governments who, he said, "don't believe in fighting climate change, who don't believe that protecting the environment needs to be a priority. Unfortunately, that's something New Brunswickers are struggling with right now."

In fact, the Green victories in New Brunswick, Ontario and Prince Edward Island happened in elections in which Liberal governments were seeking new mandates.

Trudeau's campaign bus headed to Salisbury and Moncton later in the day before continuing on to Nova Scotia.