Brian Gallant was elected as the new leader of the New Brunswick Liberals on Oct. 27 in Moncton.
Duncan Gallant, a volunteer on his campaign, says the young leader is excited to be working for the New Brunswick Liberals. Duncan says one of Brian’s biggest issues is education in New Brunswick.
“It’s an issue that is near and dear to his heart. It is a major pillar that we can invest in here in New Brunswick.”
Gallant was elected as the leader of the party with 59.26 per cent of the vote. He ran against Mike Murphy, a lawyer and Nick Duivenvoorden, a farmer.
Duncan spent his time connecting with university students during Brian’s campaign. He says Brian believes spending on education in New Brunswick is not a cost, but an investment.
“He [Brian] talks about education as life long learning and it needs to start early.”
One idea Gallant has in regards to education is sponsoring companies to offer internships for students. This means paying their tuition if they agree to work for that company, once their schooling is complete.
This is one of many ideas that the new NB Liberal leader has been talking about in order to transform the Liberal party, and bring his new ideas to NB politics.
Gallant ran against sitting Premier Bernard Lord in the 2006 provincial Liberal leader convention, without any previous electoral experience, and came in a respectable second place.
Gallant was born in Shediac Bridge and now lives in Moncton. He began his political debut at Université de Moncton, as President of the student federation.
Gallant received his law degree from U de M, and his Masters degree in law from Mcgill University in Montreal.
The two worked on the student federation together at U de M.
“Brian’s actually a professional tennis player, which is interesting. While in school he managed two businesses in order to finance his education. He’s a pretty impressive guy.”
