Gallant sets out to woo Greens

FREDERICTON— The high-stakes political manoeuvring continues in New Brunswick, with Liberal Premier Brian Gallant seeking a formal alliance with the Greens — and another potential kingmaker saying he’ll work with any party.

Flanked by his new caucus members Wednesday, Gallant said they had decided to reach out to the Green party. He said the Liberals had not yet made an overture to the small party, and the Greens themselves were noncommittal about how they might proceed after Monday’s deadlocked election results.

The Liberals won 21 seats — one fewer than Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives — but Gallant remains premier as he tries to get support from other parties to maintain the legislature’s confidence. He said he will call the house back before Christmas.

Both the left-of-centre Greens and right-of-centre People’s Alliance won three seats each, making them both potentially very powerful.

Green Leader David Coon has been meeting with his new MLAs to discuss their next steps. On Wednesday, he said the legislature session will be a real test, especially for the mainline parties.

“The others keep talking about doing politics differently but they never do. So I see that we as a Green caucus have a real opportunity here to help make that happen where we create a legislative assembly that actually starts to co-operate on behalf of the people of this province,” he said.