2 veterans hoping to make political comeback in Edmundston ridings

Voters in Edmundston are split between two provincial ridings, but no matter which side of the electoral boundary they're on, they're watching a veteran politician attempting a comeback.

On one side of the divide, in Madawaska-Les-Lacs-Edmundston, is Jeannot Volp, an outspoken cabinet minister in Bernard Lord's government who wasinterim leader of the provincial Toriesbefore becoming a vocal critic of his own party.

And in Edmundston-Madawaska-Centre, three-term Liberal MP Jean-Claude D'Amours is hoping to revive his political career with a term as Liberal MLA.

• Jeannot Volp not shy to rain criticism as PC hopeful mounts return to politics

• Madeleine Dub, the PC party's only francophone MLA, retiring from politics

Together, the two ridings make up the northwestern tip of the province, taking in rural communities fromSainte-Anne-de-MadawaskatoHaut-Madawaska, withEdmundstonas the urban centre. They have more similarities than differences, with candidates from the two ridings often campaigning as a team.

The province has been run by a teenager.- Jeannot Volp, PCcandidate

Signs for bothVolpand his main opponent, Liberal Francine Landry, and D'Amours and his PC opponent, GraldLvesque, are sprinkled throughout the city of 16,000.

Volp's decision to come out of retirement to run took many by surprise.

"The province has been run by a teenager," said 68-year-oldJeannotVolp. "He's in a candy jar right now and throwing money everywhere.

"Somebody needed to get involved, we've got real challenges in this province."

The northwest of the province differsin that the jobless rate is low 4.8 per cent,according to Statistics Canada numbers from last month the lowest in the province.

What's worrying employers and workers alike there is how to bring people to the region to fill the estimated 500 jobs that are currently sitting empty, according to theEdmundstonChamber of Commerce.

Critical of leader in past

Volp has been critical of key decisions taken by his party since he left in 2010, especially when current leader Blaine Higgs was finance minister.

Those included the reform to MLA pension plans which he filed a human rights complaint againstand blamed "a few dummies" on Alward's staff for and a 2014 forestry plan, which he said increased the dominance of large companies on Crown land.

But candidate and leader appear to have set aside whatever differences they may have had, with Higgs saying he welcomed Volp's straight talkand Volp consideringHiggs "a great leader."

"First when he came in I had some,not concerns, but a few questions for him.I met with him on quite a few occasions," said Volp.

On Sept. 8, midway through the campaign, Higgsmade a stop in Edmundston to pledgeto overhaul New Brunswick's forestry laws.

"Small woodlot owners are suffering," he said at the announcement alongside Volp and Lvesque.

Volp will have to beatLiberal MLA and minister Francine Landry, who is confident she will get re-elected on Sep. 24.

"I know Jeannot as well. He's entitled to his own opinion," said Landry. "What I hear is people were happy with what I've done, how I brought investments from the government to projects they've been working on for quite a few years."

Denis Boulet is running for the Green Party and Ccile Richard-Hbert for the NDP.

Another familiar face

Next door, in the riding of Edmundston-Madawaska-Centre, Liberal candidate Jean-Claude D'Amours is trying to carve himself a spot on the political scene again.

After three terms, the former federal Liberal MP left politics in 2011, defeated by Conservative Bernard Valcourt.

The 45-year-old said he was always planninga comeback. The move from federal to provincial politics was in part to be closer to his family, he said.

"You can't imagine, I was waiting for that moment to go back on the campaign trail. It was a thrill," saidD'Amours.

The Edmundston-Madawaska-Centre seat is up for grabs since longtime Progressive Conservative MLA Madeleine Dub the party's only elected member in francophone New Brunswick announced she was leaving politics in February.

Dubheldonto the seat for the Conservativesfor almost 20 years, but the 2014 vote was close.

It's imperative ... that a French candidate sit at the table.- GraldLvesque, Conservative candidate

The former minister of social development, health and education, among other portfolios, was the only PC francophone cabinet member.

"It's imperative in my view that a French candidate sit at the table be it me, be it Kevin Hach or Robert Gauvin," said Edmundston lawyer and PC candidate Grald Lvesque, who is running against D'Amours.

Running for the Green Party is Sophie Vaillancourt andAnne-Marie Comeau for the NDP.

Acute labour shortages

Whoever is elected in bothridings will have to attack the increasingly problematic issue of labour shortages in the region.

Like most of the north, the region is facing demographic struggles: an aging population coupled with young people who moved to southern New Brunswickor out of province.

Labour shortages aren't unique to Madawaska County. It's the "new reality" of the province, according to economist Pierre-Marcel Desjardins. But Desjardins said it is much more acute in Edmundston than elsewhere.

"That economy there has been doing well for a long time," said Desjardins, citing the strategic location close to U.S. and Quebec markets.

And it's not just factory jobs. There is a budding entrepreneurial scene, with some young people coming back to region in the past four years.

"The people are entrepreneurial, they roll out their sleevesand get to work," said . ThomasRaffy, president of the New Brunswick Economic Council. "They don't just own a single business. They own two, even three different businesses in that region."

No long-term strategy

Andr Morneault one of those entrepreneurs.

He works as a software engineer for a U.S. company but is also a director with the local microbrewery and has a startup business. He is a born and raised Edmundstonian and would like to see the economy grow.

He admitted,frankly, he's discouraged with all parties.

"Right now we're having a lot of labour shortages. And it's getting to a point where companies have stopped investing in the area," saidMorneault.

"I'd like to see a clear long-term plan. I don't feel like there's a plan, there's a strategy, I feel like they're all winging it."

I feel like they're all winging it.- Andr Morneault, voter

Desjardins and Raffy agree none of the leaders addressed issues of labour shortages and immigration this election, still focused on messages around job creation instead.

"They're more interested in putting forth a message that they think the population wants to hear, not the message the population needs to hear," said Desjardins.

First Nation voters

Adding to the mix are the voters isthe Madawaska Maliseet First Nation a community home to multiple million-dollar businesses, including its casino, and one that's billed itself as one of the most prosperous in the province.

Traditionally, First Nationsdon't vote much in provincialelections, but this time, chiefs across New Brunswick urged people to head to the polls on Sept. 24.

Madawaska chief Patricia Bernard called her communityto vote Liberalbecause she said they were the first party in New Brunswick to recognize the duty to consult First Nations about uncededlands.

"That's a big step in itself," saidBernard. "Historically, Aboriginal people don't necessarily feel that it's going to affect them. But it has a huge effect, particularly in our community. We want to see the continuity of our tax-agreement with the province."

Language, language, language

Though the economy is top of mind of business people likeMorneault,language will be the top issue when he goes to cast his ballot.

He doesn't know which way he'll vote yet. In his opinion, all parties have failed on that front.

It's not pretty.- Andr Morneault, voter

"It's not pretty," said Morneault.

"We have the Liberals that are telling us they are the champions of francophone rights, but there's no record to support that in the last four years. And then you have the Conservatives, who decided to elect a leader who is not even bilingual and has a CORbackground, so that's not flying around here as well."

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