Mr. Lordon, M. L. A., resigns

In the December, 1960, issue of The Union of Electors, we carried an article entitled, "The depression is a cold, hard fact in New Brunswick". With it was a picture of Mr. Paul Lordon, member of the legislative assembly of New Brunswick. The article carried a long quotation from Mr. Lordon's report on the critical economic situation in the province, especially in the county of Northumberland which he represented.

On December 31, Mr. Lordon handed in his resignation as Member, to the provincial secretary-treasurer.

Mr. Lordon, a lawyer, had been elected as a Liberal. And it is the Liberal party which is in power at Fredericton. Mr. Lordon, however, did not hesitate to castigate this government for doing nothing to ameliorate the desperate situation in the constituency which he respresented. In a declaration to the newspapers on January 3rd, he stated that his office was filled with people seeking employment or help from him. He added:

It seems to me that there is nothing I can do to help the people of Northumberland county under the present circusmtances. I prefer not to remain in a position where people await results which I cannot give... The economic situation in my constituency has deteriorated, but the government refuses to acknowledge this. I hope that my resignation will force the government to act.

Mr. Lordon emphasised that he was resigning of his own free will and that he was doing so under no pressure from his party. He had not discussed the resignation beforehand either with Mr. Louis Robichaud, party chief and premier, or with any other official of the party. He refused to say whether or not he would continue on as a member of the party.

As is quite evident, Mr. Lordon did not enter politics to get rich or to be a mere lackey of the party bosses, but to work and serve the people. When it became evident that even with the party in power he was incapable of doing anything, he resigned. He refused to be an accomplice of a government which refuses to face up to its duty. It was an honorable gesture. And if his successor is not the man he was and cannot demonstrate the same spirit of independence vis-a-vis power, still the leader of the government will no longer be able to shut his eyes in peace and without reproach, upon the great and dire misery which holds sway in that part of the province.

How often it happens that we meet members of parliament who declare that they are "incapable of doing anything; yet they remain smugly where they are, too attached to the emoluments and the social prestige which a seat in parliament gives! It is a great comfort, and encouraging, to find an exception to this class. We would like to take this occasion to express our high esteem for Mr. Lordon for the courageous step which he has taken.