# Sherry Wilson

Sherry Wilson is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in the 2014 provincial election. Since 2024, she represents the electoral district of Albert-Riverview as a member of the Progressive Conservatives. She was first elected as the MLA for Moncton Southwest in 2010 and was re-elected in the 2014, 2018, and 2020 provincial elections. After the 2024 elections, she became the longest serving member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.

## Early life

Wilson grew up on a dairy farm in Intervale, New Brunswick and attended schools in Petitcodiac. She is one of nine children. Following high school, she completed a business and secretarial course at Campbellton Community College.

## Before politics

After college she began working at Hub Meat Packers in Moncton where she was Credit Manager Assistant and after moving to Edmonton, Alberta, she worked at the University Hospital in administration. After two years in Alberta, she moved back to New Brunswick, settling in Riverview, where she bought her own business in 1984.
Wilson also volunteered for the RCMP from 1991 to 1999 as Victim Services Coordinator. In 2002 and 2003, she was the president of the Downtown Riverview Business Association and in 2004 she was elected to Riverview Town Council and was re-elected in 2008. She sat on the Codiac Regional Policing Authority Board, the Immigration Board, and the Finn report committee, among other committees and boards, and served as deputy mayor in 2005.

## Political career

Wilson ran for a seat to the New Brunswick Legislature in the 2010 provincial election. She stood as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the electoral district of Petitcodiac. She defeated Wally Stiles, a former cabinet minister who crossed the floor from the Progressive Conservatives to the Liberals in 2007, to take back the seat for her party. After the Petitcodiac electoral district was abolished in the 2013 electoral redistribution, Wilson ran and was re-elected in the newly created district of Moncton Southwest in the 2014 provincial election. She was re-elected again in the 2018 and 2020 provincial elections.
On November 9, 2018, she was sworn-in as Minister of Service New Brunswick and Minister responsible for Women's Equality, in the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Blaine Higgs. On June 27, 2023, she was sworn-in as the Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services.
As a result of the 2021 electoral redistribution, Wilson is running in the 2024 provincial election in the Albert-Riverview electoral district.
On September 30, 2024, Wilson released a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation statement on her campaign page in which she compared residential schools to the parental rights movement, specifically making a comparison to the original version of Policy 713. Her statement received criticism from opposition parties, with several indigenous peoples also calling for her withdrawal as a candidate for the party, including by Pabineau First Nation Chief Terry Richardson as well as by the six Wolastoqey Nation chiefs, who released a statement reading: "That she would try to draw this dog-whistle comparison on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation should make every New Brunswicker ashamed that she was recently a minister for this province in the Higgs government."

## Electoral record
### Moncton Southwest

vte2024 New Brunswick general election: Albert-Riverview :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Sherry Wilson | 4,363 | 52.4% |
| | Liberal | Dave Gouthro | 2,599 | 31.2% |
| | Green | Liam MacDougall | 972 | 11.7% |
| | People's Alliance | Sharon Buchanan | 297 | 3.6% |
| | Libertarian | William Jones | 97 | 1.2% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 8,328 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | |
| Source: Elections New Brunswick |||||||
2020 New Brunswick general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Sherry Wilson | 3,679 | 52.13 | 10.39 |
| | Liberal | René Ephestion | 1,561 | 22.12 | -16.00 |
| | Green | Claire Kelly | 927 | 13.13 | +0.17 |
| | People's Alliance | Susan Matthews | 667 | 9.45 | -- |
| | New Democratic | Juliana McIntosh | 224 | 3.17 | -4.02 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7,058 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 12 | 0.17 | -0.33 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,070 | 58.47 | +0.59 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 12,081 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +13.20 |
| Source: Elections New Brunswick |||||||
2018 New Brunswick general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Sherry Wilson | 2,920 | 41.73 | +2.97 |
| | Liberal | Susy Campos | 2,667 | 38.11 | +3.14 |
| | Green | Sarah Colwell | 907 | 12.96 | +6.93 |
| | New Democratic | Hailey Duffy | 503 | 7.19 | -10.17 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6,997 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 35 | 0.50 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,032 | 57.98 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 12,128 |
| Source: Elections New Brunswick |||||||
2014 New Brunswick general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Sherry Wilson | 2,523 | 38.80 |
| | Liberal | Tyson Milner | 2,274 | 34.97 |
| | New Democratic | Charles Doucet | 1,129 | 17.36 |
| | Green | Mathieu Pierre LaPlante | 392 | 6.03 |
| | People's Alliance | Lucy Goguen | 184 | 2.83 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6,502 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 26 | 0.40 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,528 | 54.77 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 11,919 |
| This riding was created from parts of Moncton North, Petitcodiac, Moncton West and Moncton Crescent, all of which elected Progressive Conservatives in the previous election. Sherry Wilson was the incumbent from Petitcodiac. |||||||
| Source: Elections New Brunswick |||||||

### Petitcodiac

2010 New Brunswick general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Sherry Wilson | 4,133 | 55.69 | -9.22 |
| | Liberal | Wally Stiles | 1,772 | 23.87 | -5.73 |
| | Green | Bethany Thorne-Dykstra | 856 | 11.53 | – |
| | New Democratic | Leta Both | 661 | 8.91 | +3.43 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7,422 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 44 | 0.59 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,466 | 68.40 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 10,915 |
| | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | -1.74 |
| Liberal candidate Wally Stiles lost 41.04 percentage points from his 2006 performance running as a Progressive Conservative. |||||||
| Source: Elections New Brunswick |||||||