New Brunswick election a litmus test for the rest of Canada on shale gas

New Brunswickers head to the polls in what seems to be another PC versus Liberal tête-à-tête this Monday.

But this province's election could also be key to determining Canada's future and the future of fracking. Liberal Premier Shawn Graham's wrong-headed decision to sell off NB Power cost him the last election; this time, PC Premier David Alward will lose from putting all of his eggs in the shale gas fracking basket.

In both cases, the people of New Brunswick rose up and took a stand. In New Brunswick, the Alward government has been industry-friendly to the extreme: giving Crown lands to the Irvings for forestry, helping TransCanada approve the Energy East pipeline, and signalling to shale gas (fracking) companies that New Brunswick is "open for business."