Page "Maritimes" Paragraph 76

The Liberal Party of Canada has done well in the Maritimes in the past because of its interventionist policies.

The Acadian Peninsula region of New Brunswick, long dependent upon seasonal employment in the Gulf of St. Lawrence fishery, tends to vote for the Liberals or NDP for this reason.

In the 1997 federal election, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberals endured a bitter defeat to the PCs and NDP in many ridings as a result of unpopular cuts to unemployment benefits for seasonal workers, as well as closures of several Canadian Forces Bases, the refusal to honour a promise to rescind the Goods and Services Tax, cutbacks to provincial equalization payments, health care, post-secondary education and regional transportation infrastructure such as airports, fishing harbours, seaports, and railways.

The Liberals held onto seats in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, while being shut out of Nova Scotia entirely, the second time in history ( the only other time being the Diefenbaker sweep ).