Members
All were elected in the 35th general election held on June 9, 2003 except for Victor Boudreau who was elected in a by-election on October 4, 2004 and Ed Doherty who was elected in a by-election on November 14, 2005.
The standings were changed further on January 13, 2006, when Frank Branch left the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent; and on February 17, 2006, when then Progressive Conservative MLA Michael Malley crossed the floor to sit as an independent thus putting Bernard Lord's government into a minority situation. Malley, while serving as speaker, changed his affiliation back to Progressive Conservative on April 13, 2006. Some controversy arose following this as following the 2003 election, the House unanimously passed a motion requiring the Opposition Liberals to pair a member with the speaker during meetings of committees of the whole in order to maintain the government majority in such situations. The Opposition argued that there was no precedent for a speaker to cross the floor and therefore, they did not recognize that a majority government existed and would not honour this motion under the circumstances. The House voted on May 30, 2006 to express confidence in the Speaker and therefore, implicitly, approve of his change of affiliation. From that date forward, the Liberals accepted Malley as a Progressive Conservative.
Read more about this topic: 55th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly
Famous quotes containing the word members:
“In every party there is one person who, through his dotingly credulous enunciation of party principles, incites the other members to defection.”
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“For let our finger ache, and it endues
Our other healthful members even to a sense
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“It took six weeks of debate in the Senate to get the Arms Embargo Law repealed—and we face other delays during the present session because most of the Members of the Congress are thinking in terms of next Autumn’s election. However, that is one of the prices that we who live in democracies have to pay. It is, however, worth paying, if all of us can avoid the type of government under which the unfortunate population of Germany and Russia must exist.”
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