NDP faithful defend Brewer, blame party

Two New Brunswick NDP candidates are rushing to defend party leader Allison Brewer, saying she should not bear the blame for the party's bad showing in the Sept. 18 election.

The New Democrats did not run a full slate of candidates in the election, failed to have a single member elected andtheir usual share of the popular vote was cut almost in half.

The NDP pulled in just 5.1 per cent of the vote share in 2006, compared with 9.6 per cent in 2003. The vote share was the lowest it's been in any provincial election since 1974.

Brewer was elected to lead the party in September 2005. She tried to win the riding of Fredericton-Lincoln but was beaten soundly by Liberal Greg Byrne.

In light of that, two candidates are questioning Brewer's leadership, and one of them is calling for her to step down.

But now other candidates are coming to her defence. Mark Leblanc ran in Saint John-Fundy. He says the party wasn't ready when the election was called last month.

"I really don't fault Allison. In fact, Allison has my full support as leader of the party. Yes, there are some minor hiccups that the party has to overcome, but I think that Allison can pull us through."

Virgil Hammock ran in Tantramar for the NDP, and he also supports Brewer's leadership. Still, he says all is not right with the party. "We seriously seriously have to review what went wrong. We went to historic lows in our vote and we thought that this was a golden opportunity for the NDP to do something in this election. And it just didn't happen."

Charles Fournier ran for the NDP in Nepisiguit, although he lives in Fredericton. He was also the party president for seven months.

Fournier says the NDP's dismal showing does not speak well of Brewer's leadership, and he wants her to resign.

"It's been a rocky road for her from the start, and I think for her own sake and for the party's sake it's time. A drop in the popular vote of almost half is just not acceptable."

Roger Duguay, a Roman Catholic priest,had the strongest showing of any NDP candidate onMonday.He took 26 per cent of the vote in Miramichi Bay-Neguac, but says it was hard to persuade voters to support the party under Brewer's leadership.

"That she doesn't speak French, it doesn't help the provincial party and it doesn't help here in my riding."

Duguay also says Brewer'sformer job running theMorgentaler abortion clinic in Frederictonmade her a tough sell to staunchly Catholic voters in his riding.

Brewer has not spoken to reporters since election night, but theNDP provincial secretary, Lyndsey Gallant, says she stands behind her leader and the party should, too.

"We don't see any reason for Allison Brewer to resign. This was her very first campaign and we feel she gave it everything that she had. She worked so hard."

The party constitution dictates aleadership review is required every two years. The next is scheduled for the fall of 2007.