SACKVILLE, N.B. — Kevin Vickers has been one busy guy since April 24.
Logging over 30,000 kilometres over the past six months, Vickers has been traveling the province, visiting communities big and small, as he shares his vision for New Brunswick.
The new leader of New Brunswick’s Liberal Party said in his travels he has been chatting with New Brunswickers about ways to transform the economy, to grow the population, to improve education and health care and to make the environment a higher priority.
“I see so much potential for a lot of opportunities in a lot of areas,” he said during a stop in Sackville last week, where he took part in the town’s Pride Parade, met with university and municipal officials, and took a tour of the local business district.
Vickers said there are plenty of ways to turn the province around and to get it moving in a better direction – and the first step is in rekindling the ‘can-do attitude’ of New Brunswickers.
“We have to rekindle that spirit, getting that attitude back that ‘we can do this,” he said. “We need to get that spring back in our step.”
To grow the economy, he sees three sectors New Brunswick can capitalize on - technology and cybersecurity, the green economy, and building on the fisheries and forestry sectors.
“I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and doing what I can to make New Brunswick prosperous,” said Vickers.
Vickers, a newcomer to the political arena, has had a long career of public service but in what he calls “non-partisan” roles. He spent 29 years with the RCMP, served as the aide-de-camp for the NB Lieutenant Governor and then took on the sergeant-at-arms post for the House of Commons, where he worked from 2006-2015. Vickers is widely known for his role in stopping a gunman’s attack on Parliament Hill in 2014. Prior to taking on the Liberal leadership, Vickers was serving as Canada’s ambassador to Ireland.
He said when he was first approached last December about offering for the leadership of New Brunswick’s Liberal Party, he was hesitant at first.
“I never dreamt of getting into politics,” he said.
But as his concerns grew over the deepening division between the Anglophone and Francophone communities in the province and the growth of the People’s Alliance party, he started giving the opportunity more serious consideration.
“I started thinking, this is not my New Brunswick. So I was moved to do something.”
Vickers has deep roots in New Brunswick. Growing up in Miramichi, his father Bill and close friend Martin Legere of Caraquet helped established the Northumberland Co-op Dairy and he said his life has been shaped by so many people that have helped to build this province, both Anglophone and Francophone alike.
So to see a deepening wedge between the two communities and forces that are continuing to drive them apart is concerning to him.
He said having a bilingual province is a strength for New Brunswick, and it’s an asset that can be leveraged as a ‘beacon for the world.’
The 62-year-old said although he doesn’t anticipate a provincial election to be called anytime soon, with a federal election currently in the works, the Liberals will be ready if and when Premier Higgs does decide to call one.
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