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During the past 30 years, New Brunswick’s Assembly has witnessed a trio of legislative oddities. First, in 1987, one party won every seat in the Assembly, meaning there was no opposition presence among MLAs. Second, in 1994, changing standings among caucuses in the Assembly created a situation where two opposition parties had an equal number of seats and vied to be recognized as the Official opposition. Third, and most recently, a general election resulted in New Brunswick’s first minority parliament since 1920. The incumbent government attempted to demonstrate it retained the confidence of the Assembly despite losing its majority, but was defeated when the House met to consider the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. After briefly summarizing the first two oddities, the authors deal substantively with the third and explain how the precarity of a minority parliament and policy differences among the four parties in the Assembly could mean the electorate will return to the polls well in advance of the province’s next fixed election date.
