New Brunswick's premier urged his supporters to work hard to pull the Liberal vote, one day before a provincial election where the outcome is expected to be decided by tight margins in battleground ridings.
Shawn Graham said with five parties running candidates, the decisions of a small group of people could swing crucial seats.
"We saw in 2003 and in 2006, which were very close election races, that the Liberal party made substantial gains because we were able to get the vote out on election day," he said during a swing through the province Sunday.
"And that's what we've been preparing for over the last 32 days of this campaign."
Graham said he believes the Liberals can win the election, the province's first under fixed-date legislation, and pick up some seats from the Tory Opposition.
Conservative Leader David Alward said he was taking nothing for granted going into Monday's vote.
"I'm not in the least bit presumptuous," he said while campaigning in the small Acadian village of Saint-Louis-de-Kent. "I'm humbled by the opportunity and New Brunswickers will decide."
New Brunswick's premier urged his supporters to work hard to pull the Liberal vote, one day before a provincial election where the outcome is expected to be decided by tight margins in battleground ridings.
Shawn Graham said with five parties running candidates, the decisions of a small group of people could swing crucial seats.
"We saw in 2003 and in 2006, which were very close election races, that the Liberal party made substantial gains because we were able to get the vote out on election day," he said during a swing through the province Sunday.
"And that's what we've been preparing for over the last 32 days of this campaign."
Graham said he believes the Liberals can win the election, the province's first under fixed-date legislation, and pick up some seats from the Tory Opposition.
Conservative Leader David Alward said he was taking nothing for granted going into Monday's vote.
"I'm not in the least bit presumptuous," he said while campaigning in the small Acadian village of Saint-Louis-de-Kent. "I'm humbled by the opportunity and New Brunswickers will decide."
The former public servant was in the riding of Rogersville-Kouchibouguac, which has held by the Tories since 1999 but was vacated earlier this year with the Senate appointment of Rose-May Poirier.
Even though polls suggested Graham's Liberals were ahead at the beginning of the 32-day campaign, they indicated that Alward's Conservatives opened up a lead in the second week that held until the final days, when the gap narrowed to a slim margin.
Bernard Lord's Tories lost the 2006 election even though they had a larger share of the popular ballot. Almost half of the 55 races were determined by a margin of less than 1,000 votes.
Observers say this race was marked by voter dissatisfaction with Graham's spotty record, which includes a series of high-profile flip-flops that culminated in his decision to scrap a multibillion-dollar bid to sell the province's public utility company, NB Power.
Soon after his party was elected in 2006, Graham said he planned to merge several university and community college campuses to form polytechnic institutions. But he backed down two years later amid angry protests.
He was forced to backtrack again in 2008 when his government modified a decision to scrap early French immersion in the province's English schools.
The Liberals also reversed themselves on cuts to ferry services and layoffs of school support workers while fighting a legal challenge over the reorganization of health authorities.
Then there was the sudden announcement last October that the province planned to sell NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for $4.75 billion, which would have wiped out a large chunk of the province's debt.
The move was a key part of Graham's ambitious if ill-defined plan to make the province financially self-sufficient within 20 years.
But the agreement was soon renegotiated and later shelved as the public, opposition critics and members of Graham's own caucus unleashed a firestorm of protest.
While the province is faced with an $8.4 billion debt, there was virtually no discussion during the campaign from the main two parties about how they would pay the bills.
Instead, Graham and Alward both promised to balance the books in four years without increasing taxes and drastic spending cuts.
Graham has also promised to create 20,000 jobs, but he has been criticized for failing to explain how that would be done.
He has also promised to provide laptop computers to the province's 61,000 middle and high school studentsn - a commitment his opponents dismissed as extravagant.
Alward has promised to freeze electricity rates for three years, reduce the size of cabinet and cut the small business tax in half.
NDP Leader Roger Duguay is hoping to make a breakthrough for his party, which has never won more than one seat in a general election in the province. He has promised to create 17,000 jobs and cut the deficit by $304 million annually.
The Liberals, Tories and NDP are fielding a full slate of candidates. The Greens are running 49 and the Alliance 14, and neither of the fledgling parties have elected a member to the legislature.
At dissolution, the Liberals had 31 seats and the Conservatives 21. There was one Independent and two seats were vacant.
If Graham loses the election, it would mark the first time in the province's history that a party has lost after only one term in power.
The former public servant was in the riding of Rogersville-Kouchibouguac, which has held by the Tories since 1999 but was vacated earlier this year with the Senate appointment of Rose-May Poirier.
Even though polls suggested Graham's Liberals were ahead at the beginning of the 32-day campaign, they indicated that Alward's Conservatives opened up a lead in the second week that held until the final days, when the gap narrowed to a slim margin.
Bernard Lord's Tories lost the 2006 election even though they had a larger share of the popular ballot. Almost half of the 55 races were determined by a margin of less than 1,000 votes.
Observers say this race was marked by voter dissatisfaction with Graham's spotty record, which includes a series of high-profile flip-flops that culminated in his decision to scrap a multibillion-dollar bid to sell the province's public utility company, NB Power.
Soon after his party was elected in 2006, Graham said he planned to merge several university and community college campuses to form polytechnic institutions. But he backed down two years later amid angry protests.
He was forced to backtrack again in 2008 when his government modified a decision to scrap early French immersion in the province's English schools.
The Liberals also reversed themselves on cuts to ferry services and layoffs of school support workers while fighting a legal challenge over the reorganization of health authorities.
Then there was the sudden announcement last October that the province planned to sell NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for $4.75 billion, which would have wiped out a large chunk of the province's debt.
The move was a key part of Graham's ambitious if ill-defined plan to make the province financially self-sufficient within 20 years.
But the agreement was soon renegotiated and later shelved as the public, opposition critics and members of Graham's own caucus unleashed a firestorm of protest.
While the province is faced with an $8.4 billion debt, there was virtually no discussion during the campaign from the main two parties about how they would pay the bills.
Instead, Graham and Alward both promised to balance the books in four years without increasing taxes and drastic spending cuts.
Graham has also promised to create 20,000 jobs, but he has been criticized for failing to explain how that would be done.
He has also promised to provide laptop computers to the province's 61,000 middle and high school students - a commitment his opponents dismissed as extravagant.
Alward has promised to freeze electricity rates for three years, reduce the size of cabinet and cut the small business tax in half.
NDP Leader Roger Duguay is hoping to make a breakthrough for his party, which has never won more than one seat in a general election in the province. He has promised to create 17,000 jobs and cut the deficit by $304 million annually.
The Liberals, Tories and NDP are fielding a full slate of candidates. The Greens are running 49 and the Alliance 14, and neither of the fledgling parties have elected a member to the legislature.
At dissolution, the Liberals had 31 seats and the Conservatives 21. There was one Independent and two seats were vacant.
If Graham loses the election, it would mark the first time in the province's history that a party has lost after only one term in power.
