FREDERICTON—Standing in front of New Brunswick’s historic Government House, a sandstone mansion on the banks of the St. John River, Brian Gallant laid out the next steps Monday for the fractured province.The Liberal leader, the province’s incumbent premier seeking a second term in office, announced he had met with Lt.-Gov. Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau and received permission to seek the confidence of the legislature.That’s despite earning fewer seats than the Progressive Conservatives. After all the votes were counted in Monday’s election, the seat count sat at 22 for the Tories, 21 for the Liberals and three seats each for the Greens and the People’s Alliance.Gallant pledged that if he loses the confidence of the house, he would step aside and allow Tory Leader Blaine Higgs to lead — or trigger another election.Still, many questions remain about how New Brunswick’s political future will unfold after voters turned their backs on the province’s entrenched two-party system and put the balance of power in two smaller parties:How is it that Gallant gets a chance to form government, even if he has fewer seats?In a parliamentary system, the convention is that the existing premier has the first opportunity to form government.“The incumbent premier can always test the legislature,” explains Kelly Lamrock, a Fredericton constitutional lawyer and former Liberal cabinet minister and house leader.“Theoretically, in 2010 after (then-premier) Shawn Graham lost all but 10 seats he still could have gone to the lieutenant-governor and said, ‘I think I can pull this off,’ and he would have had every right to march into the house and make Conservatives turf him.”How and when will his attempt be tested?The most important principle is that the premier has the confidence of the legislature, says Gabriel Arsenault.“The key test will be the throne speech,” explains the Universite de Moncton p ...
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