Daniel Allain is a Canadian politician from New Brunswick. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick at the 2020 general election in the riding of Moncton East and sat in the legislature until 2024.[1] He served as Minister of Local Government and Local Governance Reform until being dropped from the cabinet on June 27, 2023.
Daniel Allain | |
|---|---|
 Allain in 2022 | |
| Minister of Local Government and Local Governance Reform | |
| In office September 29, 2020 – June 27, 2023 | |
| Premier | Blaine Higgs |
| Preceded by | Jeff Carr (Environment and Local Government) |
| Succeeded by | Glen Savoie |
| Member of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly for Moncton East | |
| In office September 14, 2020 – September 19, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Monique LeBlanc |
| Succeeded by | Alexandre Cédric Doucet |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative (provincial) |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (federal) |
| Residence(s) | Moncton, New Brunswick |
Political career
editIn his early political career, Allain served as Premier Bernard Lord's constituency assistant in Moncton East from 2000 to 2003.[2] Allain stood in the 2008 Canadian federal election in Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. In 2013, during the mandate of Premier David Alward, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Management and Administration in the Office of the Premier of New Brunswick, and, in 2010, he was appointed president and chief executive officer of NB Liquor.[3]
From 2016 to 2020, Allain served as an at-large city councillor in Dieppe. As part of this municipal role, he also sat on the board of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority.[3]
In the 2020 New Brunswick general election, Allain defeated Liberal MLA Monique LeBlanc and became the MLA for the Moncton East.[1] As the only francophone in caucus and a former municipal councillor,[4] Allain was made a member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick and given the position of Minister of Local Government and Local Governance Reform.[5]
As Minister, Allain oversaw the implementation of significant reforms. Promoted as being the most substantial since Premier Robichaud's Equal Opportunity Program, the Higgs-Allain local governance reforms consolidated the province's many local governance entities from 340 to fewer than 100.[6]
Following premier Blaine Higgs's revision of Policy 713, Allain, then serving as the Minister of Local Government and Local Governance Reform, expressed his "extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency" in a jointly signed letter with fellow cabinet minister Jeff Carr.[7] On June 27, 2023, Higgs dismissed both Allain and Carr from their cabinet positions, citing a breach of cabinet solidarity due to their support for the opposition motion on the policy.[8] Allain and Carr, along with resigned ministers Dorothy Shephard and Trevor Holder, all voted with the opposition parties on June 15 which favoured a Liberal motion which opposed the policy revision and called for increased consultation on the policy.[9][7] Allain and Carr were both relegated to backbencher positions, and new ministers were appointed to fill their cabinet roles.[9] Allain had planned to be a candidate for the newly created riding of Champdoré-Irishtown,[10] but instead made an announcement on March 1, 2024, that he would not be a candidate in the next election but would remain in the legislature until the election was called.[11]
Electoral history
edit2020 New Brunswick general election
edit| 2020 New Brunswick general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Daniel Allain | 3,525 | 45.17 | +9.40 | ||||
| Liberal | Monique LeBlanc | 2,759 | 35.35 | -11.46 | ||||
| Green | Phylomène Zangio | 989 | 12.67 | +0.73 | ||||
| People's Alliance | Michel Norman Guitare | 378 | 4.84 | |||||
| New Democratic | Christopher Wanamaker | 153 | 1.96 | -3.51 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 7,804 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 29 | 0.37 | -0.13 | |||||
| Turnout | 7,833 | 63.33 | +0.38 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 12,368 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +10.43 | ||||||
2008 Canadian federal election
edit| 2008 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Brian Murphy | 17,797 | 39.13 | -8.58 | $73,263.48 | |||
| Conservative | Daniel Allain | 16,297 | 35.83 | +5.72 | $76,634.27 | |||
| New Democratic | Carl Bainbridge | 7,394 | 16.26 | -2.67 | $2,294.96 | |||
| Green | Alison Ménard | 3,998 | 8.79 | +5.86 | $4,619.17 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 45,486 | 100.0 | $82,313 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 286 | 0.51 | -0.25 | |||||
| Turnout | 45,772 | 61.31 | -5.56 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 74,660 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -7.15 | ||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Live New Brunswick election results 2020: Real-time results in the provincial election". Global News. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
- ^ Poitras, Jacques (2004). The Right Fight: Bernard Lord and the Conservative Dilemma. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Goose Lane Editions. p. 304. ISBN 0-86492-376-7.
- ^ a b "Member of the Legislative Assembly : Hon. Daniel Allain - Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick". legnb.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
- ^ Poitras, Jacques (September 6, 2020). "PC party members diverge on language split after Higgs shut out in northern New Brunswick". CBC News. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
- ^ Government of New Brunswick, Canada (29 September 2020). "Swearing-in ceremony held". www2.gnb.ca. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
- ^ "Municipal reform will include sweeping amalgamations". TJ.news. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
- ^ a b Alam, Hina (27 June 2023). "New faces, 2 ministers bounced as part of N.B. cabinet shuffle by Blaine Higgs". Global News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ Gill, Jordan (28 June 2023). "Fired cabinet minister speaks out on premier's leadership style". CBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ a b Poitras, Jacques (27 June 2023). "Blaine Higgs drops 2 rebellious ministers in cabinet shuffle". CBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ Poitras, Jacques (17 October 2023). "Higgs throne speech avoids provocations, instead calls for unity". CBC News. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ Poitras, Jacques (March 1, 2024). "Former minister Daniel Allain announces he won't run in next election". CBC News New Brunswick. Retrieved 1 March 2024.