Eric Allaby

Who is Eric Allaby?

Kenneth Eric Allaby is a former New Brunswick politician.

Allaby, educated in physics at Acadia University, has worked as an author, painter, curator and teacher. An historian, he was curator of the Grand Manan Museum and the author several books and articles on marine history. A consultant, he is also a commercial scuba diver.

He first ran for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, as a Liberal in the 1982 election but was defeated. He ran and won in the 1987 election in which Frank McKenna's Liberal party captured every seat. He was re-elected in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003.

Soft spoken, but known for his keen knowledge of parliamentary procedure, Allaby was a candidate for speaker in 1998 and was named Liberal House Leader following the 1999 election that returned the Liberals to opposition for the first time in twelve years. He served in the opposition shadow cabinet as critic for transportation from 2003 to 2006.

On February 3, 2006 it was announced that Allaby would become the chair of the Public Accounts Committee, replacing Frank Branch who left the Liberal caucus.

His riding of Fundy Isles was merged with the riding of fellow Liberal Rick Doucet to form Charlotte-The Isles in the 2006 redistribution of boundaries. As a result, Allaby chose not to seek re-election in the 2006 election.