N.B. political parties scramble to meet candidate nomination deadline

Parties scrambled to assemble their final list of candidates in time for the nomination deadline Friday afternoon, leaving the Greens with fewer contenders than expected.

New Brunswick political parties had until 2 p.m. to submit nominations to Elections New Brunswick for the Sept. 14 election.

The Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals were the only two parties to register candidates in all 49 ridings.

The unscheduled election was only called on Aug. 17, and the four-week campaign is shorter than usual.

The Greens intended to run a full slate of candidates. Party spokesperson Marie-Christine Allard said Kimberly-Mai Therrien, the expected candidate for Shediac-Bay Dieppez, showed up a minute too late to the returning office and missed the deadline.

Allard said the other riding without a candidate, Southwest Miramichi-Bay du Vin, "didn't work out" in the end.

The People's Alliance has 36 candidates, more than in 2018.

The NDP dropped to 32 candidates after running a full slate last time.

KISS N.B. has four candidates, and there are nine independents running across the province.

In a handful of ridings, voters will have a long list of options on election day.

Candidates for all five conventional parties and an independent are on the ballot in Miramichi. In Fredericton-zGrand Lake there will be also be six candidates to choose from.

Saint John Harbour is shaping up to be a full race, with two independents joining the five main parties on the ballot.

The final candidates list is largely composed of men, with the gender disparity larger than the last provincial election. There are 152 men seeking election and 74 women.

In 2018, there were 148 men and 93 women nominated by the parties.