Founded 1785 (1785) | Seats 49 | |
 | ||
Type Unicameral house of the New Brunswick Legislature Preceded by Nova Scotia House of Assembly Lieutenant Governor Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau
Since 23 October 2014 Speaker Chris Collins, Liberal
Since October 25, 2014 | ||
The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada is located in Fredericton. It was established de jure when the colony was created in 1784, but came into session only in 1786, following the first elections in late 1785. It was the lower house in a bicameral legislature until 1891, when its upper house counterpart, the Legislative Council of New Brunswick, was abolished. Its members are called "Members of the Legislative Assembly," commonly referred to as "MLAs".
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History
The New Brunswick Legislative Building is the current building that houses the Assembly. It opened in 1882, having been constructed by J.C. Dumaresq, following the destruction of the original building, known as Province Hall, by fire in 1880.
The legislative chamber is designed to have four rows on the government side and three rows on the opposition side. This is because elections have traditionally yielded a strong government majority; in fact on occasion, such as currently, even with many of the seats on one side of the House, the government has spilled over to the opposition side. Quite often the House is oriented to have only two rows on the opposition benches, in the event of a large opposition adding a third row makes the opposition benches rather crowded.
Current members
The current membership of the 58th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly was elected on September 22, 2014 in the 2014 New Brunswick general election.
Party standings and seating plan
The current party standings in the legislature are as follows: