Daniel Allain

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

In 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

2020 New Brunswick general election

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

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

1. "Live New Brunswick election results 2020: Real-time results in the provincial election". Global News. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
2. 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.
3. "Member of the Legislative Assembly : Hon. Daniel Allain - Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick". legnb.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. "Municipal reform will include sweeping amalgamations". TJ.news. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
7. 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.
8. Gill, Jordan (28 June 2023). "Fired cabinet minister speaks out on premier's leadership style". CBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
9. Poitras, Jacques (27 June 2023). "Blaine Higgs drops 2 rebellious ministers in cabinet shuffle". CBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
10. Poitras, Jacques (17 October 2023). "Higgs throne speech avoids provocations, instead calls for unity". CBC News. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
11. 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.