Graham Liberals hold final cabinet meeting

Shawn Graham's cabinet met for the final time on Tuesday as the outgoing New Brunswick premier prepares to leave office.

Graham's Liberals were pounded at the ballot box on Sept. 27, winning only 12 of 55 seats inside the legislative assembly, earning him the distinction of becoming the first New Brunswick premier since Confederation to lose after only one mandate.

And as Graham and his defeated MLAs pack up, Dennis Cochrane, the president of St. Thomas University, said the transition plan for incoming Premier David Alward to take power is almost done.

Cochrane, who is on the five-person Tory transition team, said the plan to have the transition completed for the Oct. 12 swearing-in ceremony is on track.

"It's should be done this Friday. It's been interesting and hopefully in some way will help make the structure more relevant to the demands the public is going to make on government in the future," Cochrane said.

Alward has promised to unveil a cabinet of 15 ministers plus himself. He has also unveiled his "10 by 10" plan that includes a series of initiatives he wants to launch before the end of the year.

Cochrane is no stranger to transitions. Before taking his current job at the Fredericton liberal arts university, Cochrane was a mayor of Moncton, an MP in the Brian Mulroney government, a leader of the New Brunswick Tories and a deputy minister of education in Nova Scotia.

Cochrane agreed to sit on Alward's transition team while keeping his day job as president of St. Thomas University.

"It's only taken me two or three hours a day and I don't think I missed any commitments by any means but I'll be looking forward just to spending more time in my own job as the president," Cochrane said.