New Brunswick provincial parties kick off campaigns ahead of Oct. 21 election

New Brunswickers will be voting Oct. 21 after a 32-day campaign that’s likely to be focused on affordability, education and health care in a province grappling with a surge in population and the rising cost of housing.Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs will try to retain power by riding the growing chill toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while selling his own economic record despite a polarizing debate over changes his government made to gender-identity rules in the classroom.