John Hogan becomes Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador

It was finally John Hogan who will succeed Andrew Furey. He was elected Saturday after the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Just under 14,000 activists from all over the province voted to choose the next Liberal chief and referred to Prime Minister.

They were about 400 gathered in Saint-Jean on Saturday to find out who the members had set their sights.

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John Hoganthe liberal deputy for Windsor Lakewas considered the favorite in order to succeed Mr. Furey Thanks to the support of 12 provincial liberal caucus members, more than half.

He won 78 % of the 40,000 points available in this weighted voting system.

He thus becomes a designated Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador and will be officially sworn in in the coming days.

John Abbott, deputy for the constituency of Saint-Jean-Est-Quidi Vidi, was the only opponent of Mr. Hogan. Following the result, the defeat candidate said he was planning to represent himself in the next provincial elections.

The designated Prime Minister said that his opponent will probably be part of his Council of Ministers.

Invited to say when the next elections could take place, John Hogan did not want to advance.

I will meet the members of my caucus in order to have their opinions and their advice to know when the election should take place. But there is not much flexibility, we are a few months from the next ballot, we are not talking about 12 or 13 months, so it will be between now and the month of Octoberhe explained on Saturday afternoon.

A race for cordial management

John Hogana lawyer by training was elected to the Chamber of Assembly in Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time in 2021. He held the functions of Minister of Health and Community Services since July 2024. He was also Minister of Justice and Public Security from April 2021 to January 2023.

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The party leadership race was rather cordial. During the campaign, the two candidates for the succession of Adrew Furey both promised to confirm the agreement in principle concluded in December between Newfoundland and Labrador and the province of Quebec concerning the energy produced at the power station of Churchill Falls.

The opponent of John Hogan However, accused it of carrying out an overly cautious campaign and of offering nothing new. M. Hogan has only made two promises, to set up a free vaccination program against the zona for people over 50 and create two new ministries devoted to the elders and the family. His absolute priority was however the finalization of the agreement on Churchill Falls.

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John Abbott is an old senior official. He lost the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 2020 against Andrew Furey.

Designated Minister of Housing, Mental Health and Dependence in 2024, he also held the post of Minister of Transport and Infrastructure in the government of Andrew Furey.

He notably promised to use the funds generated by Churchill Falls in order to create a fund to improve Labrador infrastructure if he was elected head of the party. He also promised to create a guaranteed basic income for seniors, build 10,000 new homes by 2031 and develop a public debt reduction plan.

At the head of Newfoundland and Labrador since 2020, Andrew Furey49, was the 14th Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador. He announced his resignation in February, saying that he had to go by.

With information from Patrick Butler