Rumor has it that Bernard Lord; former Premier of New Brunswick will seek the federal Conservative nomination in the riding of Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe.


Speculation is that Prime Minister Harper will appoint Mr. Lord to Cabinet in the next few weeks as Minister of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Opportunities Agency and Industry Canada. According to framers of this scenario, Mr. Harper would also name Lord as “Regional Minister” for Atlantic Canada.


To make way for these appointments, Peter MacKay would be moved to a new Department of Energy & the Environment. John Baird would be moved to Defense. David Emerson would announce that he is not running in the next election and Jim Prentice would be appointed Minister of International Trade.

Some believe this would be a brilliant tactical move by Stephen Harper, designed to win the hearts and minds of Atlantic Canadians while laying a more sensitive hand on the environment and climate change. Mr. Lord brings impeccable economic credentials to his new portfolios.


Consider that he presided over the $750 million decision to refit NB Power’s Coleson Cove generating plant for Orimulsion. There is no Orimulsion available to fuel the plant. Mr. Lord promised and delivered the decision to scrap tolls on the Moncton to Fredericton four lane highway at a cost to New Brunswick taxpayers of some $50 million a year. That’s $1 billion over twenty years.


Mr. Lord presided over the decision to break up NB Power into five operating entities. The result has been cumulative rate increases of close to thirty percent over the last four years and the creation of a business maze that makes it virtually impossible for regulators to track the real costs of generation.

It seems we are about to witness a replay of Mr. Lord’s fascination with federal politics. Remember his on again, off again considerations about running for the leadership of the Federal Conservative Party. This is a man who spent seven years as premier of the province, yet in a 2006 winter poll, 60% of respondents could not name a single accomplishment of his Government.


This is a man who after resigning as Leader of his Party had to leave the province to find a job with a Montreal law firm.

This is a man who was mentored by former Ontario Premier Mike Harris and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. In fact many of Mr. Lord’s economic policies while in office were modeled on the Mike Harris school of economics.

During his time in office, Mr. Lord often boasted about cutting taxes. Consider that consumption taxes collected during his reign (gasoline, tobacco, alcohol, and the HST) increased by nearly $300 million between the years 2000 and 2006. Corporate tax collections increased by $10 million. Personal income tax collections increased by $163 million and property tax collections increased by $100 million. (Source: Auditor General’s Report 2006).


Granted some of those tax increases were the result of growth in the economy but a significant portion of the increases was generated from higher property assessments and hidden taxes (licensing fees, service fees, and alcohol prices). During Mr. Lord’s tenure as premier, more than half a billion dollars in added tax revenue was extracted from the New Brunswick economy. That is his legacy.

Under Mr. Lord’s watch (TJ July 17, 2006), NB Power’s debt increased by $216 million (1999 to 2006) while total public sector debt increased by $731 million. Mr. Lord talked about the need for a clean-up of the Saint John Harbour but did nothing about it.


He promised funding for restoration of the Petitcodiac River but failed to deliver. He dithered for years on the location of a new Court House in Moncton. He talked about convention centres but nothing happened. He begged Prime Minister Harper for funds to refurbish NB Power’s Point Lepreau nuclear plant but was turned down.

It’s hard to understand how the Prime Minister today sees Mr. Lord as his Atlantic savior. Outside of New Brunswick, he has virtually no profile. Inside New Brunswick, he is saddled with a record that would make most people wince. It’s difficult to imagine that Peter MacKay would surrender his ACOA portfolio to accommodate Mr. Lord’s candidacy.


Can you imagine Bernard Lord as the senior Minister for Atlantic Canada or Minister of Industry Canada?


Both positions require an exceptional degree of skill in salesmanship and trade diplomacy.

To Mr. Lord’s credit, he is fluently bilingual and as I understand it an exceptional family man. He should be encouraged to continue engaging those attributes in both life and the private sector.


I wish the man well but his time in politics should be laid to rest.

W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at mailto:bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com