Voters line up to vote outside Exhibition Stadium during advance voting for New Brunswick’s provincial election, in Fredericton, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. The chief electoral officer, Kim Poffenroth, said many voters want to avoid election day lineups during a pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Elections New Brunswick, Paul Harpelle, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Voters line up to vote outside Exhibition Stadium during advance voting for New Brunswick’s provincial election, in Fredericton, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. The chief electoral officer, Kim Poffenroth, said many voters want to avoid election day lineups during a pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Elections New Brunswick, Paul Harpelle, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives are headed to a majority government.
It's the first provincial vote in Canada to be called during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tory Leader Blaine Higgs' campaign repeated a message that his party had successfully guided the province through the pandemic's first wave.
It's a disappointing night for the Liberals, whose leader Kevin Vickers lost his bid for a seat in the riding of Miramichi.
Kevin Vickers says he's stepping down as leader of the provincial Liberal party.
The leader lost his bid for a seat in the riding of Miramichi and his party failed to regain power in the election, with unofficial results showing the Liberals winning 17 seats to the Progressive Conservatives' 27.
Vickers says it's time for another leader to take on the rebuilding of the Liberal party.
He says he came back to the province in hopes of uniting its French, English and Indigenous populations, and he feels he made progress towards that goal.