Premier Blaine Higgs says the by-elections for two empty seats in the Legislature could be called in March.
There are vacancies in the ridings of St. Croix and Shediac Bay-Dieppe following the death of Progressive Conservative Greg Thompson and the resignation of Liberal Brian Gallant.
Higgs says the pair of by-elections play a big role his government’s future.
“Thinking about a minority government, that’s pretty critical because we need to win one of those by-elections,” he said in an interview,
“If one goes Liberal and one goes Conservative, then we’re kind of where we are today, but if they both went Liberal, we’re into a major general election. I’m hoping for that not to happen.”
He says the by-elections will be set for the same date.
Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers recently said he plans on running in Shediac Bay-Dieppe, after weeks of saying he wanted to wait until the next provincial election.
Vickers became the Liberal leader in April.
